DETERMINATION OF HISTORIC FIRE REGIME IN LOWLAND CONIFER FORESTS OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN- A BASIS FOR FOREST MANAGEMENT

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: MCINTIRE-STENNIS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1017211
• Project Start Date: Oct 1, 2018
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2021
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIV
1400 Townsend Drive
HOUGHTON,MI 49931

Performing Department
College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Non Technical Summary
Fire-adapted conifer forests are a dominant component of forest cover in the Lake States. However, the occurrence of wildfire has been declining in the Lake States, largely owing to coniferous forests being replaced with deciduous forests as a result of historical logging and agricultural patterns. While fire haslikely been a factor in theestablishment of extensive lowland conifer forests in the region, we lack data in support of what the historic fire regime is for these systems. Here, we propose to assess historic fire return intervals in peat soil profiles using a variety of novel methods. These efforts will complement dendrochronological work conducted by other agencies in re-creating historic fire regimes for lowland conifer forests.

Animal Health Component

25%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

50%

Applied

25%

Developmental

25%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
123	0199	1070	100%

Knowledge Area
123 - Management and Sustainability of Forest Resources;

Subject Of Investigation
0199 - Soil and land, general;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;

Keywords

black spruce

fire

management

peat

conifer

Goals / Objectives
OverviewFire-adapted conifer forests are a dominant component of forest cover in the Lake States. However, the occurrence of wildfire has been declining in the Lake States, largely owing to coniferous forests being replaced with deciduous forests as a result of historical logging and agricultural patterns (Rhemtulla et al. 2007; Nowacki and Abrams 2008). In mixed pine forests historic fire return intervals have ranged from 9-47 years in the central Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Drobyshev et al. 2008), 6-91 years in northern Wisconsin (Larson and Green 2017), and 9-44 years in northern Minnesota (Heinselman 1973; Clark et al. 1990). While these studies demonstrate large variation in fire return intervals, they also illustrate that fire has been pervasive in coniferous Lake States forests, and should be preserved in contemporary management plans.Lowland conifer forests such as black spruce and tamarack are commonly even-aged, often establishing after a disturbance such as wildfire. To date however there is little consensus as to what a "natural" fire regime looks like in lowland conifers of Northern Michigan. Some of the most important fires in the Lake States have burned through wetland fuels (e.g. 18,000-acre Sleeper Lake Fire in MI U.P.) and peatlands are often the most taxing and expensive fires to suppress. Despite this, we have limited knowledge of basic fire history or ecology in wetland complexes in the Lake States with very different fuels complexes, biophysical settings, and presumably local as well as landscape scale fire ecologies than those found in boreal systems. This represents a key gap in our understanding of preserving and managing a significant component of the Lake States forest mosaic. For example, lowland conifer forests alone ("acidic forest" types with deep organic layers) comprise at least 10% of the land base in the Hiawatha National Forest (Moore and Maercklein 2006), and while fire was likely a factor in their establishment we lack data in support of what the historic fire regime is for these systems.Plan of actionThe over-arching goal of this work is to determine a departure from historic fire return intervals to evaluate where and if it is appropriate to reintroduce fire. We will obtain peat soil cores in lowland conifer forests which have also been characterized for historic fire events using evidence from burn scars. A student hired on this project would be involved in, i) obtaining new peat cores, ii) processing the samples for analysis, and iii) assisting with the thermogravimetric and chemical/oxidative methods for char determination. Peat layers that detect positive for charcoal accumulation, and macroscopic charcoal fragments, will be submitted for radiocarbon analysis at the Radiocarbon Collaborative at Northern Research Station. By dating exact strata containing significant char remains, we can ascertain the frequency of fire events in these ecosystems.

Project Methods
Peat coring and fire history-We will coordinate with ongoing sampling efforts in obtaining peat soil cores in lowland conifer forests which have also been characterized for historic fire events using evidence from burn scars. These peat cores will be frozen at MTU, and processed for charcoal analysis. We are currently using established methods to section archived cores in 2 cm increments, which will be analyzed for pyrogenic carbon content ("char"carbon) through use of thermogravimetry (Plante et al. 2009) and thermal and oxidative methods (Kane et al. 2010; Miesel et al. 2017). We employ ocular checks on these for particulate charcoal, by incremental depth. New coring efforts will add additional cores in coordination with sampling lead by USFS and WI DNR. The students hired on this project would be involved in, i) obtaining new peat cores, ii) processing the samples for analysis, and iii) assisting with the thermogravimetric and chemical/oxidative methods for char determination. Peat layers that detect positive for charcoal accumulation, and macroscopic charcoal fragments, will be submitted for radiocarbon analysis at the Radiocarbon Collaborative at Northern Research Station. By dating exact strata containing significant char remains, we can ascertain the frequency of fire events in these ecosystems. These data will then be evaluated in the context of the dendrochronological work being conducted by complementary efforts (described in "Audience" section).

Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/21

Outputs
Target Audience:Products will be relayed to the management and science communities through peer reviewed publications, society meetings, and regular project meetings. This work will be inclusive of several complementary efforts. A team from the WI DNR cutting old fire scarred trees and stumps from the upland pine stringers and lowland pine in the peatlands for dendrochronology analysis (Figure 1). A team from the USFS and The Nature Conservancy (Sebasky and Swaty) are working on GIS / modeling and eventually incorporating into the landscape fire model, LANDFIRE. An effort from Michigan Natural FeaturesInventory is working on surveys to identify and categorize the different types of wetland communities and associated species with an emphasis on those that are fire dependent. The group will also explore the interaction between climate and fire. Collaborators from the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Sciences (NIACS), also in NRS, have agreed to assist in this process and suggest that new information on the historic fire return intervals for different conifer forests would be a boon to outreach with management in the National Forest system. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project trained one PhD student, and offered extensive laboratory experience for two undergraduate students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?These results have been disseminated with agency partners through regular project meetings. The principal findings will be available in the public domain through peer reviewed publications and conference proceedings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? To date, the student and lab members have: i) processed a peat core archive for analyses, ii) performed analysis for carbon and char content using FTIR, iii) refined char determination techniques using FTIR, and iv) worked with collaborators in identifying complementary sites for further coring.The following tasks have been completed: • ~1,100 spectra collected • 13 cores processed • 4 sites visited • 13 cores collected, with replication (n=2) • PyC, Humification, Lignin indices produced • Inverse relationship between PyC and Humification indices discovered At the conclusion of this project, one PhD dissertation was successfully defended. The results from this work are being incorporated in the LANDFIRE model and at least three peer-reviewed publication (one currently in review, two very close to submission). A fourth "multi-proxy" manuscript examining methods for reconstructing fire return intervals in peatlands is being developed.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2021 Citation: Uhelski DM, Kane ES, Chimner RA, Heckman K, Miesel JR, Xie L. 2021. Infrared Spectroscopy Estimates Pyrogenic Carbon Content of Peat Soils. Soil Science Society of America, in review.
• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Uhelski, DM. 2021. ELUCIDATING PEATLAND DISTURBANCE ECOLOGY AND CARBON DYNAMICS THROUGH THE LENS OF SOIL USING INFRARED SPECTROMETRY. Michigan Technological University. PhD dissertation. Houghton, Michigan, USA.

Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Products will be relayed to the management and science communities through peer reviewed publications, society meetings, and regular project meetings. This work will be inclusive of several complementary efforts. A team from the WI DNR cutting old fire scarred trees and stumps from the upland pine stringers and lowland pine in the peatlands for dendrochronology analysis (Figure 1). A team from the USFS and The Nature Conservancy (Sebasky and Swaty) are working on GIS / modeling and eventually incorporating into the landscape fire model, LANDFIRE.An effort from Michigan Natural FeaturesInventory is working on surveys to identify and categorize the different types of wetland communities and associated species with an emphasis on those that are fire dependent. The group will also explore the interaction between climate and fire. Collaborators from the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Sciences (NIACS), also in NRS, have agreed to assist in this process and suggest that new information on the historic fire return intervals for different conifer forests would be a boon to outreach with management in the National Forest system. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has furthered the training of one PhD candidate, and facilitated the training of one undergraduate student researcher. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have dissemenated project findings to date through bi-monthly project meetings with all agency collaborators (USDA, TNC, and DNR). The methodologies for detecting past peat fires have been submitted for publicationin the peer reviewed literature. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are in the final phase of this project. All data have been collected and analyzed, and in the next reporting period we anticipate the submission of two manuscripts detailing the fire return intervals of lowland conifer forests across northern MI and northern WI. Further, we will work with agency partners in incorporating these data into complementary models of fire history, such as LANDFIRE.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In this reporting period we completed our methodology for detecting fire events in peat soil profiles. We have submitted this model for publication, and have employed it in quantifying the fire return interval across our study region. These data have been dissemenated with project partners, and are being refined for two publications to be submitted in the next reporting period.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Uhelski DM, Kane ES, Chimner RA, Heckman K, Miesel JR, Xie L. submitted. Infrared Spectroscopy Estimates Pyrogenic Carbon Content of Peat Soils. Soil Science Society of America, in review.

Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Products will be relayed to the management and science communities through peer reviewed publications, society meetings, and regular project meetings. This work will be inclusive of several complementary efforts. A team from the WI DNR cutting old fire scarred trees and stumps from the upland pine stringers and lowland pine in the peatlands for dendrochronology analysis (Figure 1). A team from the USFS and The Nature Conservancy (Sebasky and Swaty) are working on GIS / modeling and eventually incorporating into the landscape fire model, LANDFIRE. An effort from Michigan Natural Features Inventory is working on surveys to identify and categorize the different types of wetland communities and associated species with an emphasis on those that are fire dependent. The group will also explore the interaction between climate and fire. Collaborators from the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Sciences (NIACS), also in NRS, have agreed to assist in this process and suggest that new information on the historic fire return intervals for different conifer forests would be a boon to outreach with management in the National Forest system. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has supported the scholarship and training of i) one PhD student, and ii) three undergraduate students funded with in-kind support. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?To date, findings have been disseminated through quarterly project meetings with agency collaborators, and have been published in Society of Wetland Scientists Conference Proceedings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We await analyses from Michigan State University, pertaining to NMR data. These will calibrate our char models. We anticipate this publication will be in the peer reviewed literature prior to the next reporting period.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? To date, the student and lab members have: i) processed a peat core archive for analyses, ii) performed analysis for carbon and char content using FTIR, iii) refined char determination techniques using FTIR, and iv) worked with collaborators in identifying complementary sites for further coring.The following tasks have been completed: ~1,100 spectra collected 13 cores processed 4 sites visited 13 cores collected, with replication (n=2) PyC, Humification, Lignin indices produced Inverse relationship between PyC and Humification indices discovered In this quarter, we have identified a collaborator who can run the solid-phase Nuclear Magnetic Resonance analyses on our peat samples.This is a critical step in calibrating our FTIR driven char model.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: RECONSTRUCTING FIRE RETURN INTERVAL IN LOWLAND FORESTS OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN: A BASIS FOR MANAGEMENT; Proceedings from the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Society of Wetland Scientists; presentation 1367.