Faculty Exploratory Research Grants
Effects of Climate Variability on Fire Regimes in Mountains of the Great Basin, AD 1700 to Present
Thomas Swetnam, Director, Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research
Grant: $10,000
This project focuses on two core questions. First, how has inter-annual and decadal to centennial climate variability influenced fire regimes of the Great Basin region in the past three to five centuries? Second, what spatial and temporal climate conditions are associated with the largest regional and sub-regional fire years under natural and contemporary conditions?
The researchers will begin by assembling modern and paleofire data sets and corresponding climate data for the Great Basin bioregion. These data networks will be used to evaluate inter-annual to centennial-scale responses of fire regimes to climate variability. The proposed work entails a sequence of integrated, collaborative efforts: a) compilation of available modern and paleofire and climate datasets relevant to the region and time periods of interest, b) field collection, laboratory preparation, and analysis of a new sub-regional tree-ring dataset of fire-scar chronologies from mountains of the Great Basin, and c) assessment of patterns of spatiotemporal synchrony in fire occurrence among multiple independent mountain ranges over the past 300 years. Data and results will be posted to the International Multiproxy Paleofire Database and other venues to ensure accessibility for other scientists and the public.
The intention is to use these results as a springboard for a full research proposal to a national funding agency to assemble a more complete spatial network of fire history sites in western North America.
Collaborators on the project include ISPE faculty members Don Falk (School of Natural Resources) and Gregg Garfin (ISPE).
In This Section
- Paul Blowers
Global Warming Potentials for Degradation Byproducts in the Atmosphere - Ed de Steiguer
Development of a Database and Website for State-Level Global Change Policy - Craig Rasmussen
Impact of Climate Variability on Soil Biogeochemistry Across a Semiarid Environmental Gradient in Saguaro National Park - Mitchell Pavao-Zuckerman
Developing an Urban Ecosystem Research Program in Tucson, AZ: Monitoring N-deposition and Ecosystem Health - Thomas Swetnam
Effects of Climate Variability on Fire Regimes in Mountains of the Great Basin, AD 1700 to Present