Fire history and the possible role of Apache-set fires in the Chiricahua Mountains of Southeastern Arizona
Seklecki MT, Grissino-Mayer HD, Swetnam TW. 1996. Fire history and the possible role of Apache-set fires in the Chiricahua Mountains of Southeastern Arizona. Pages 238-246. In Ffolliott PF, DeBano LF, Baker MB, Gottfried GJ, Solis-Garza G, Carleton EB, Neary DG, Allen LS, Hamre RH: Effects of Fire on Madrean Province Ecosystems. Tucson, Az. March 11-15, 1996. USDA, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. Ft. Collins, CO. General Technical Report RM-GTR-289
Fire history was reconstructed for the Rustler Park area of the Chiricahua Mountains and compared with the historical and documentary record of Apache presence to interpret possible associations between the Apaches and fire occurrence. Dendrochronological techniques were used to crossdate and analyze samples from 63 fire-scarred trees, resulting in a tree-ring reconstruction offire history that extended from 1644 to 1995. The fire chronology exhibited unusually high fire frequency relative to most other Southwestern fire chronologies (approximately one fire every three years between 1700 and 1900). A greater proportion of dormant season scars (late winter or spring fires) than observed elsewhere in the Southwest may indicate a greater occurrence of human-set fires. Specific key events in borderlands history were also concurrent with temporal changes in the Chiricahua fire chronology. For example, fire occurrence increased between 1760 and 1786 when Apaches waged an aggressive war against the Spanish, but decreased following 1786 when peace was established. While the hypothesis of important Apache alteration of fire regimes in the Rustler Park area was supported by concurrence with the documentary record and temporal patterns of fire occurrence, we could not conclusively distinguish the Apache influence from other factors regulating fire regimes, especially climate.
- Type
- Conference Proceeding Paper
- Authors
- Seklecki, Mariette; Grissino-Mayer, Henri; Swetnam, Thomas
- Units
- CHIR
- Keywords
- Apaches, Disturbancces, Ecology, fire regimes, History, Land Management