Articles | Volume 21, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-661-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-21-661-2025
Research article
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20 Mar 2025
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 20 Mar 2025

Reconstruction of Holocene and Last Interglacial vegetation dynamics and wildfire activity in southern Siberia

Jade Margerum, Julia Homann, Stuart Umbo, Gernot Nehrke, Thorsten Hoffmann, Anton Vaks, Aleksandr Kononov, Alexander Osintsev, Alena Giesche, Andrew Mason, Franziska A. Lechleitner, Gideon M. Henderson, Ola Kwiecien, and Sebastian F. M. Breitenbach

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Cited articles

Anyomi, K. A., Neary, B., Chen, J., and Mayor, S. J.: A critical review of successional dynamics in boreal forests of North America, Environ. Rev., 30, 563–594, https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2021-0106, 2022. 
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Armstrong McKay, D. I., Staal, A., Abrams, J. F., Winkelmann, R., Sakschewski, B., Loriani, S., Fetzer, I., Cornell, S. E., Rockström, J., and Lenton, T. M.: Exceeding 1.5 °C global warming could trigger multiple climate tipping points, Science, 377, eabn7950, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abn7950, 2022. 
Baker, J. L., Lachniet, M. S., Chervyatsova, O., Asmerom, Y., and Polyak, V. J.: Holocene warming in western continental Eurasia driven by glacial retreat and greenhouse forcing, Nat. Geosci., 10, 430–435, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2953, 2017. 
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This study employs novel methods to evaluate wildfire activity in southern Siberia during past warm periods, exploring its connections to vegetation and climate. The findings reveal that fire activity was more pronounced during the Last Interglacial than in the Holocene, driven by warmer summers and the prevalence of open forests. These results underscore the compounded influence of both vegetation changes and climate shifts on wildfire activity.
Short summary
We analyse a southern Siberian stalagmite to reconstruct soil respiration, wildfire, and vegetation trends during the Last Interglacial (LIG) (124.1–118.8 ka) and the Holocene (10–0 ka). Wildfires were more prevalent during the LIG than the Holocene and were supported by fire-prone species, low soil respiration, and a greater difference between summer and winter temperature. We show that vegetation type and summer/winter temperature contrast are strong drivers of Siberian wildfires.
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