The Role of Fire in Prehistoric Times of Rapid Climate Change

气候通过对火情的影响来影响植被。为了了解未来气候变化将如何改变全球植被格局，我们必须了解火灾在气候和植被快速变化时期的作用。在这项研究中，克拉克博士将确定在这些气候和植被迅速变化的时期发生火灾的频率。他将对湖泊沉积物进行取样，这些沉积物中含有由这些火灾产生的化石木炭。沉积物中每年的层压使研究人员能够确定木炭的年龄，并重建这些时期火灾的频率。这些重建的火情将与化石花粉和其他数据中已知的植被和气候变化进行比较。然后，这些模式将在北美东部绘制地图，以确定气候迅速变化时流行的火灾发生的空间和时间模式。这些结果将有助于我们在不久的将来解释火灾在气候变化中的潜在作用。

Climate influences vegetation through its effects on fire regimes. In order to understand how future climate changes will alter global vegetation patterns, we must understand the role of fire during times of rapid climate and vegetation change. In this study, Dr. Clark will be determining the frequency of fires at these times of rapid climate and vegetation change. He will be coring lake sediments that contain fossil charcoal produced by these fires. Annual laminations in the sediments allow the investigator to determine in the age of this charcoal and to reconstruct the frequency of fires at these times. These reconstructed fire regimes will be compared with vegetation and climate changes known from fossil pollen and other data. These patterns will then be mapped across eastern North America to establish the spatial and temporal patterns of fire occurrence that prevailed when the climate was changing rapidly. These results will help us to interpret the potential role of fire as climate changes in the near future.