Responses of vegitation and fire to Little Ice Age climate change across a Wisconsin and plain.

Dr. Elizabeth A. Lynch, Assistant Professor of Biology, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa

The objectives of the proposed project are to refine paleoecological methods and apply them to examine the effects of Little Ice Age climate change on vegetation and fire in the sand plain of northwestern Wisconsin.  Understanding the long-term interaction of fire, vegetation, and climate change is important to developing land management plans that will preserve the biological diversity of the area, including several endangered species.  This work represents a preliminary step toward establishing an interdisciplinary investigation of the interactions among climate, vegetation, soils, and disturbance, using the sand plain as a model ecosystem.  This project will result in two publications and provide pilot data for future funding through the National Science Foundation.  Our results will be shared with land managers in the region.

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