Fire History Reconstruction from Tree Rings in New Mexico

441 calendar years of fire history data are reconstructed from tree ring records at the Snag Saddle site in New Mexico. The dataset, archived by NOAA's World Data Service for Paleoclimatology, provides parameters related to fire events and dendrochronology. This study was published in 1992.

Use Cases

• Analyze fire_event_year and fire_scar data to reconstruct historical fire frequency and seasonality.
• Correlate tree_ring_width with fire_history parameters to study post-fire ecological recovery.
• Use the calendar_years_bp time series to place local fire events into a regional paleoclimate context.
• Model relationships between fire_interval and climate proxies derived from the same tree-ring records.

Strengths

• Covers a 441-year time period from 441 to -42 calendar years BP.
• Data is curated and archived by the authoritative NOAA NCEI World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.

Limitations

• The dataset's last update was in 1992, making it temporally stale for contemporary analysis.
• Geographic coverage is limited to a single site (Snag Saddle) in New Mexico.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Data derived from tree ring analysis (dendrochronology) for fire history reconstruction.

Time Range

441 to -42 calendar years before present (BP).

Freshness

1992-01-01

Geography

Snag Saddle, New Mexico, United States of America.