Ecological legacies of anthropogenic burning in a British Columbia coastal temperate rain forest

Aim
Few long-term fire histories have been reconstructed in coastal temperate rain forests, and little is known regarding the spatial and temporal characteristics of lightning and human ignitions. We use a multidisciplinary approach to assess the impact, scale and ecological legacies of historic fires.
Location
We focus on perhumid temperate rain forests located on the central coast of British Columbia, Canada.
Methods
We reconstructed 700 years of temporal and spatial aspects of fire activity with 30 plots on Hecate Island using fire scars and forest-stand establishment. We then conducted a paired study of 20 former indigenous habitation and control sites on 15 islands to relate fire activity to patterns of human settlement. We mapped 15 years of lightning strike densities and use mixed-effects modelling to assess whether fire activity predicted the distribution and abundance of traditional plants.
Results
Sixteen low- and mixed-severity fires were recorded from 1376 to 1893. Th...