Skip to content Skip to navigation

Article: Does fuel type influence the amount of charcoal produced in wildfires? Implications for the fossil record

Palaeontology Cover Image - Volume 61 Part 2
Publication: Palaeontology
Volume: 61
Part: 2
Publication Date: March 2018
Page(s): 159 171
Author(s): Victoria A. Hudspith, Rory M. Hadden, Alastair I. Bartlett, and Claire M. Belcher
Addition Information

How to Cite

HUDSPITH, V.A., HADDEN, R.M., BARTLETT, A.I., BELCHER, C.M. 2018. Does fuel type influence the amount of charcoal produced in wildfires? Implications for the fossil record . Palaeontology, 61, 2, 159-171. DOI: 10.1111/pala.12341

Author Information

  • Victoria A. Hudspith - WildFIRE Lab Hatherly Laboratories University of Exeter Exeter Devon EX4 4PS UK
  • Rory M. Hadden - School of Engineering University of Edinburgh Edinburgh EH9 3JL UK
  • Alastair I. Bartlett - School of Engineering University of Edinburgh Edinburgh EH9 3JL UK
  • Claire M. Belcher - WildFIRE Lab Hatherly Laboratories University of Exeter Exeter Devon EX4 4PS UK

Publication History

  • Issue published online: 08 February 2018
  • Manuscript Accepted: 18 October 2017
  • Manuscript Received: 13 July 2017

Funded By

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Grant Number: Arup/EPSRC Industrial CASE Studentship 14220013
European Research Council Starter Grant. Grant Number: ERC‐20130StG‐335891‐ECOFLAM

Online Version Hosted By

Wiley Online Library (Free Access)
Get Article: Wiley Online Library [Free Access]

Abstract

Charcoal occurrence is extensively used as a tool for understanding wildfires over geological timescales. Yet, the fossil charcoal literature to date rarely considers that fire alone is capable of creating a bias in the abundance and nature of charcoal it creates, before it even becomes incorporated into the fossil record. In this study we have used state‐of‐the‐art calorimetry to experimentally produce charcoal from 20 species that represent a range of surface fuels and growth habits, as a preliminary step towards assessing whether different fuel types (and plant organs) are equally likely to remain as charcoal post‐fire. We observe that charcoal production appears to be species specific, and is related to the intrinsic physical and chemical properties of a given fuel. Our observations therefore suggest that some taxa are likely to be overrepresented in fossil charcoal assemblages (i.e. needle‐shed conifers, tree ferns) and others poorly represented, or not preserved at all (i.e. broad shoot‐shed conifers, weedy angiosperms, shrub angiosperms, some ferns). Our study highlights the complexity of charcoal production in modern fuels and we consider what a bias in charcoal production may mean for our understanding of palaeowildfires.

PalAss Go! URL: http://go.palass.org/k4m | Twitter: Share on Twitter | Facebook: Share on Facebook | Google+: Share on Google+