Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x5gtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-05T02:02:58.864Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A 1200-year proxy record of hurricanes and fires from the Gulf of Mexico coast: Testing the hypothesis of hurricane–fire interactions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Kam-biu Liu ,
Houyuan Lu  and
Caiming Shen
Kam-biu Liu*
Affiliation:
Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, School of the Coast and Environment, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
Houyuan Lu
Affiliation:
Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Caiming Shen
Affiliation:
Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY 12203, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: +1 225/578 6423. E-mail address: kliu1@lsu.edu (K.-B. Liu).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We present here the first high-resolution pollen record of vegetation response to interactions of hurricane and fire disturbances over the past 1200 yr from a small lake in Alabama on the Gulf of Mexico coast. The paleo tempestological record inferred from the over wash sand layers suggests that the Alabama coast was directly struck by Saffir–Simpson category 4 or 5 hurricanes twice during the last 1200 yr, around 1170 and 860 cal yr BP, suggesting an annual landfall probability of 0.17% for these intense hurricanes. The charcoal data suggest that intense fires occurred after each of these hurricanes. The pollen data suggest that populations of halophytic plants (Chenopodiaceae) and heliophytic shrubs (Myrica) expanded after the hurricane strikes, probably due to saltwater intrusion into the marshes and soil salinization caused by over wash processes. Populations of pines (Pinussp.) decreased significantly after each intense hurricane and the ensuing intense fire, suggesting that repeated hurricane–fire interactions resulted in high tree mortality and probably impeded recruitment and recovery. Our data support the hypothesis that the likelihood and intensity of fire increased significantly after a major hurricane, producing responses by vegetation that are more complex and unpredictable than if the disturbance agents were acting singly and independently.

Keywords

PaleotempestologyHurricanesFiresPollenCharcoalOverwashCoastal lakesGulf of Mexico
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 69 , Issue 1 , January 2008 , pp. 29 - 41
Copyright
Elsevier Inc.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Armentano, T.V., Doren, R.F., Platt, W.J., Mullin, T., (1995). Effects of Hurricane Andrew on coastal and interior forests of southern Florida: overview and synthesis. Journal of Coastal Research 21, 111–144.Google Scholar
Batista, W.B., Platt, W.J., (2003). Tree population responses to hurricane disturbance: syndromes in a south-eastern USA old-growth forest. Journal of Ecology 91, 197–212.Google Scholar
Beckage, B., Stout, I.J., (2000). Effects of repeated burning on species richness in a Florida pine savanna: a test of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis. Journal of Vegetation Science 11, 113–122.Google Scholar
Beckage, B., Platt, W.J., Slocum, M.G., Panko, B., (2003). Influence of the El Nino Southern Oscillation on fire regimes in the Florida Everglades. Ecology 84, 3124–3130.Google Scholar
Bellingham, P.J., Tanner, E.V.J., Healey, J.R., (1995). Damage and responsiveness of Jamaican montane tree species after disturbance by a hurricane. Ecology 76, 2562–2580.Google Scholar
Bianchette, T., (2007). Using Hurricane Ivan as a modern analog in paleotempestology: Lake sediment studies and environmental analysis in Gulf Shores, Alabama. M.S. Thesis, Louisiana State University,125p.Google Scholar
Boucher, D.H., (1990). Growing back after hurricanes. Bioscience 40, 163–166.Google Scholar
Boucher, D.H., Vandermeer, J.H., Yih, K., Zamora, N., (1990). Contrasting hurricane damage in tropical rain forest and pine forest. Ecology 71, 2022–2024.Google Scholar
Conner, W.H., (1995). Impacts of hurricanes on forests of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Laderman, A., Coastally Restricted Forests. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Craighead, F.C., Gilbert, V.C., (1962). The effects of Hurricane Donna on the vegetation of southern Florida. Quarterly Journal of the Florida Academy of Sciences 25, 1–28.Google Scholar
Curran, E.B., Holle, R.L., Lopez, R.E., (1997). Lightning fatalities, injuries, and damage reports in the United States from 1959–1994. NOAA Technical Memorandum, NWS SR-193.Google Scholar
Dean, W.E., (1974). Determination of carbonate and organic matter in calcareous sediments and sedimentary rocks by loss on ignition: comparison with other methods. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 44, 242–248.Google Scholar
Elsner, J.B., Kara, A.B., (1999). Hurricanes of the North Atlantic: Climate and Society. Oxford Univ. Press, New York., 488 pp.Google Scholar
Elsner, J.B., Jagger, T.H., Liu, K.-b., in press. Comparison of hurricane return levels using historical and geological records. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology.Google Scholar
Everham, E.M., Brokaw, N.V.L., (1996). Forest damage and recovery from catastrophic wind. Botanical Review 62, 113–185.,.Google Scholar
Faegri, K., Iversen, J., (1975). Textbook of Pollen Analysis. Munksgaard, Copenhagen., 295 pp.Google Scholar
Foley Onlooker, , (1968). Fire leaves scotched area near Gulf. 1–8.,(July 4).Google Scholar
Frangi, J.L., Lugo, A.E., (1991). Hurricane damage to a flood-plain forest in the Luquillo Mountains of Puerto Rico. Biotropica 23, 324–335.Google Scholar
Gardner, L.R., Michener, W.K., Blood, E.R., Williams, T.M., Kjerve, B., Lipscomb, D.J., Jefferson, W.H., (1991). Ecological impact of Hurricane Hugo-Salinization of a coastal forest. Journal of Coastal Research SI-8, 301–317.Google Scholar
Glitzenstein, J.S, Platt, W.J., Streng, D.R., (1995). Effects of fire regime and habitat on tree dynamics in North Florida longleaf pine savannas. Ecological Monographs 65, 441–476.Google Scholar
Graumann, A., Lott, N., McCown, S., Ross, T., (1998). Climatic extremes of the summer of 1998. National Climate Data Center Technical Report No. 98-03. NOAA, Asheville .Google Scholar
Gresham, C.A., Williams, T.M., Lipscomb, D.J., (1991). Hurricane Hugo wind damage to southeastern United States coastal forest tree species. Biotropica 23, 420–426.Google Scholar
Hook, D.D., Burford, M.A., Williams, T.M., (1991). Impact of Hurricane Hugo on the South Carolina coastal plain forest. Journal of Coastal Research SI-8, 291–300.Google Scholar
Komarek, E.V., (1974). Effects of fire on temperate forests and related ecosystems: Southeastern United States. Kozlowski, T., Ahlgren, C., Fire and Ecosystems. Academic Press, New York., 251–277.Google Scholar
Liu, K.-b., (2004). Paleotempestology: Principles, methods, and examples from Gulf coast lake-sediments. Murnane, R., Liu, K.-b., Hurricanes and Typhoons: Past, Present, and Future. Columbia Univ. Press, New York., 13–57.Google Scholar
Liu, K.-b., (2007). Paleotempestology. Elias, S.A., Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science. Elsevier, Oxford., 1978–1986.Google Scholar
Liu, K.-b., Fearn, M.L., (1993). Lake-sediment record of late Holocene hurricane activities from coastal Alabama. Geology 21, 793–796.Google Scholar
Liu, K.-b., Fearn, M.L., (2000). Reconstruction of prehistoric landfall frequencies of catastrophic hurricanes in NW Florida from lake sediment records. Quaternary Research 54, 238–245.Google Scholar
Liu, K.-b., Fearn, M.L., (2002). Lake sediment evidence of coastal geologic evolution and hurricane history from Western Lake, Florida: Reply to Otvos. Quaternary Research 57, 429–431.Google Scholar
Loope, L., Duever, M., Herndon, A., Snyder, J., Jansen, D., (1994). Hurricane impact on uplands and freshwater swamp forest. Bioscience 44, 238–246.Google Scholar
Lu, H.Y., Liu, K.-b., (2005). Phytolith indicators of coastal environmental changes and hurricane overwash deposition. The Holocene 15, 965–972.Google Scholar
Lugo, A.E., Applefield, M., Pool, D.J., McDonald, R.B., (1983). The impact of Hurricane David on the forests of Dominica. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 13, 201–211.Google Scholar
Marshall Space Flight Center, , (1998). Lightning likes land: First three months of data show surprising pattern. http://science.msfc.noaa.gov/newhome/headlines/essd19May98_2.htm.Google Scholar
Menges, E.S., Deyrup, M.A., (2001). Postfire survival in south Florida slash pine: Interacting effects of fire intensity, fire season, vegetation, burn size, and bark beetles. International Journal of Wildland Fire 10, 53–63.Google Scholar
Myers, R.K., van Lear, D.H., (1998). Hurricane–fire interactions in coastal forests of the south: A review and hypothesis. Forest Ecology and Management 103, 265–276.Google Scholar
Neumann, C.J., Jarvinen, B.R., McAdie, C.J., Hammer, G.R., (1999). Tropical Cyclones of the North Atlantic Ocean 1871–1999. NOAA Historical Climatology Series 6-2 National Climatic Data Center, Asheville.Google Scholar
Otvos, E.G., (1999). Quaternary coastal history, basin geometry, and assumed evidence for hurricane activity, northeastern Gulf of Mexico coastal plain. Journal of Coastal Research 15, 438–443.Google Scholar
Paine, R.T., Tegner, M.J., Johnson, E.A., (1998). Compounded perturbations yield ecological surprises. Ecosystems 1, 535–545.Google Scholar
Platt, W.J., (1999). Southeastern pine savannas. Anderson, R.C., Fralish, J.S., Baskin, J., The Savanna, Barren, and Rock Outcrop Communities of North America. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge., 23–51.Google Scholar
Platt, W.J., Doren, R.F., Armentano, T.V., (2000). Effects of Hurricane Andrew on stands of slash pine (Pinus elliottii var. densa) in the Everglades region of south Florida (USA). Plant Ecology 146, 43–60.Google Scholar
Platt, W.J., Beckage, B., Doren, R.F., Slater, H.H., (2002). Interactions of large-scale disturbances: Prior fire regimes and hurricane mortality of savanna pines. Ecology 83, 1566–1572.Google Scholar
Putz, F.E., Sharitz, R.R., (1991). Hurricane damage to old-growth forest in Congaree Swamp National Monument, South Carolina, USA. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 21, 1765–1770.Google Scholar
Shuman, B., (2003). Controls on loss-on-ignition variations in cores from two shallow lakes in the northeastern United States. Quaternary Research 30, 371–385.Google Scholar
Slater, H.H., Platt, W.J., Baker, D.B., Johnson, H.A., (1995). Effects of Hurricane Andrew on damage and mortality of trees in subtropical hardwood hammocks of Long Pine Key, Everglades National Park, Florida, USA. Journal of Coastal Research SI-21, 197–207.Google Scholar
Stockmarr, J., (1971). Tablets with spores used in absolute pollen analysis. Pollen et Spores 13, 615–621.Google Scholar
Tanner, E.V.J., Kapos, V., Healey, J.R., (1991). Hurricane effects on forest ecosystems in the Caribbean. Biotropica 23, 513–521.Google Scholar
Touliatos, P., Roth, E., (1971). Hurricanes and trees, ten lessons from Camille. Journal of Forestry 69, 285–289.Google Scholar
United States Geological Survey (USGS), , (1970). The National Atlas of the United States of America. Plate vol. 116, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Wade, D.D., Forbus, J.K., Saveland, J.M., (1993). Photo series for estimating post-hurricane residues and fire behavior in southern pine. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report SE-82 Southeastern Forest Experiment Station, Asheville.Google Scholar
Walker, L.R., (1991). Tree damage and recovery from Hurricane Hugo in Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. Biotropica 23, 379–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weaver, P.L., (1989). Forest changes after hurricanes in Puerto Rico's Luquillo Mountains. Interciencia 14, 181–192.Google Scholar
Webb, L.J., (1958). Cyclones as an ecological factor in tropical lowland rain forest north of Queensland. Australian Journal of Botany 6, 220–228.Google Scholar
Whigham, D.F., Olmsted, I., Cano, E.C., Harmon, M.E., (1991). The impact of Hurricane Gilbert on trees, litterfall, and woody debris in a dry tropical forest in the northern Yucatan peninsula. Biotropica 23, 434–441.Google Scholar
Yih, K., Boucher, D.H., Vandermeer, J.H., Zamora, N., (1991). Recovery of the rain forest of southeastern Nicaragua after destruction by Hurricane Joan. Biotropica 23, 106–113.Google Scholar
Zimmermann, J.K., Everham, E.M. III, Waide, R.B., Lodge, D.J., Taylor, C.M., Brokaw, N.V.L., (1994). Responses of tree species to hurricane winds in subtropical wet forest in Puerto Rico: Implications for tropical tree life histories. Journal of Ecology 82, 911–922.Google Scholar