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.
