Tree-ring data from Capulin Canyon, New Mexico, reconstructs fire events over a 436-year period from 396 to -40 calendar years before present. The NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) archives this paleoclimatology study under its World Data Service. The dataset was last updated in 1990.
Use Cases
- Analyze fire frequency and return intervals using dated fire scar events from tree rings.
- Correlate fire history parameters with regional climate proxies to study climate-fire relationships.
- Reconstruct historical fire years and seasons for the Capulin Canyon area.
- Validate and calibrate broader regional fire history models using this site-specific chronology.
Strengths
- Covers a 436-year time period (396 to -40 BP).
- Provides a site-specific fire chronology for a defined geographic location in New Mexico.
- Archived by the authoritative NOAA NCEI World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.
Limitations
- Temporal coverage ends 40 years before present (circa 1990), lacking recent decades.
- Data is specific to a single canyon site, limiting broad spatial analysis.
- The last metadata update was in 1990, indicating potential staleness.
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
- 396 to -40 calendar years before present (BP).
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Capulin Canyon, New Mexico, United States of America.