The influence of leaf morphology on litter flammability and its utility for interpreting palaeofire - PubMed (original) (raw)

The influence of leaf morphology on litter flammability and its utility for interpreting palaeofire

Claire M Belcher. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2016.

Abstract

Studies of palaeofire rely on quantifying the abundance of fossil charcoals in sediments to estimate changes in fire activity. However, gaining an understanding of the behaviour of palaeofires is also essential if we are to determine the palaeoecological impact of wildfires. Here, I use experimental approaches to explore relationships between litter fire behaviour and leaf traits that are observable in the fossil record. Fire calorimetry was used to assess the flammability of 15 species of conifer litter and indicated that leaf morphology related to litter bulk density and fuel load that determined the duration of burning and the total energy released. These data were applied to a fossil case study that couples estimates of palaeolitter fire behaviour to charcoal-based estimates of fire activity and observations of palaeoecological changes. The case study reveals that significant changes in fire activity and behaviour likely fed back to determine ecosystem composition. This work highlights that we can recognize and measure plant traits in the fossil record that relate to fire behaviour and therefore that further research is warranted towards estimating palaeofire behaviour as it can enhance our ability to interpret the palaeoecological impact of palaeofires throughout Earth's long evolutionary history.This article is part of the themed issue 'The interaction of fire and mankind'.

Keywords: Triassic–Jurassic; fire intensity; fire severity; palaeoecology; palaeowildfire.

© 2016 The Author(s).

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Figures

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Example labelled heat release rate profile showing position of ignition, peak heat release rate (pHRR), burn duration and total amount of energy released (THR). (Online version in colour.)

Figure 2.

Figure 2.

Scatterplots showing the results of Principle Components Analyses (PCA) of the flammability data (TTI, burn duration, pHRR, EHoC and THR). (a) PC axes 1 and 2 for all the species tested; (b) PC axes 1 and 2 with only species relevant to Astartekløft, East Greenland remaining on the plot. (Online version in colour.)

Figure 3.

Figure 3.

HRR profiles for the conifer species tested grouped according to the results of the PCA; each group corresponds to the region of the same number outlined in figure 2_a_. Species shown with an asterisk (*) are morphotypes representative of fossil leaves found at Astartekløft, East Greenland.

Figure 4.

Figure 4.

Scatterplot of fuel load versus THR (kJ) from the flammability experiments.

Figure 5.

Figure 5.

Schematic of changes to major canopy- and litter-forming morphotypes across the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary at Astartekløft, East Greenland with changes in charcoal abundance (fire activity) and estimates of palaeolitter fire behaviour. All HRR profiles are shown at the same scale. Log and charcoal abundance modified from Belcher et al. 2010 [12], floral data taken from Belcher et al. 2010 [12] and HRR profiles from this study. (Online version in colour.)

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