Fire History Reconstruction from Black Mountain Tree Rings

Tree-ring fire scar data from Black Mountain, New Mexico, spans 527 years from 491 to -36 calendar years before present. The NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) archives this paleoclimatology study, which was last updated in 1986.

Use Cases

• Reconstructing historical fire frequency and seasonality from dated fire scar records.
• Analyzing the relationship between fire events and tree-ring width patterns as a climate proxy.
• Calibrating regional fire history models using the 527-year temporal coverage.
• Studying pre-Columbian fire regimes in New Mexico's forest ecosystems.

Strengths

• Covers a 527-year temporal range (491 to -36 BP).
• Data is archived and maintained by the authoritative NOAA NCEI World Data Service.

Limitations

• Data is temporally stale, last updated in 1986.
• Geographic scope is limited to a single site (Black Mountain, New Mexico).
• Sample size and specific row/column counts are unknown.

Provenance

Source

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.

Collection Method

Tree-ring analysis (dendrochronology) for fire scar dating.

Time Range

491 to -36 calendar years before present (BP).

Freshness

1986-01-01

Geography

Black Mountain, New Mexico, United States of America.