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Cited by 40Fire effects on ecosystemsRangeland and Wildlife ManagementForest Management and Policy

Spatiotemporal variability of human–fire interactions on the Navajo Nation

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Guiterman, Christopher H., Margolis, Ellis Q., Baisan, Christopher H., Falk, Donald A., Allen, Craig D., Swetnam, Thomas W.·2019·Ecosphere
DOI 10.1002/ecs2.2932
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Abstract

Unraveling the effects of climate and land use on historical fire regimes provides important insights into broader human–fire–climate dynamics, which are necessary for ecologically based forest management. We developed a spatial human land‐use model for Navajo Nation forests across which we sampled a network of tree‐ring fire history sites to reflect contrasting historical land‐use intensity: high human use, primarily in the Chuska Mountains, and low human use, primarily on the central Defiance Plateau. We tested for and compared human‐ and climate‐driven changes in the fire regimes by applying change point detection, regression, and superposed epoch analyses. The historical fire regimes and fire–climate relationships reflect those of similar forests regionally and are similar between the two Navajo landscapes until the early 1800s. We then determined that a previously identified, localized, early (1830s) decline in fire activity was geographically widespread across higher human‐use sites. In contrast, fires continued to burn uninterrupted through this period at the lower use sites. Though the 1830s included significantly wet and cold periods that could have contributed to fire regime decline, human factors pose a more spatiotemporally consistent explanation. A rise in Navajo pastoralism in the 1820s–1830s was concentrated seasonally in the heavy use sites. By the 1880s, livestock numbers more than doubled, grazing became far more spatially widespread, and frequent fire regimes of Navajo forests collapsed. The last widespread fire recorded on either landscape was in 1886. In the Chuska Mountains, livestock and fire coexisted for over 50 yr between the initial 1832 fire decline and the end of frequent fires after 1886, an exceptional pattern in the western United States. Though unique in its timing, character, and spatial dynamics, the collapse of historical fire regimes in Navajo forests contributed to now over a century without frequent surface fire, leaving Navajo forests at risk for large, uncharacteristic high‐severity fires.

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  • With the exception of Northern Tonto territories, Ndee fire history sites exhibit a surplus of fire scars in the early earlywood, which is generally assigned to late April and May.

    “With the exception of Northern Tonto territories, Ndee fire history sites exhibit a surplus of fire scars in the early earlywood, which is generally assigned to late April and May (56, 57).”

    From Tree rings reveal persistent Western Apache (Ndee) fire stewardship and niche construction in the American Southwest (2025) · cites this paper as [56]

    The Results (page unavailable) describe dormant and early-earlywood fire scars as predominant in Navajo forests, and the Historical fire regimes section places fires broadly in April–June. The paper studies Navajo Nation sites in the Chuska Mountains and Defiance Plateau; it does not establish a surplus at Ndee sites, a Northern Tonto exception, or a specific late-April-to-May assignment. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The early and middle earlywood scars at Ndee sites likely correspond to fires in late April, May, and June.

    “These scars likely correspond to fires in late April, May, and June.”

    From Tree rings reveal persistent Western Apache (Ndee) fire stewardship and niche construction in the American Southwest (2025) · cites this paper as [56]

    The Results section says that early-earlywood scars recorded fires predominantly in spring and early summer at the paper’s Navajo Nation sites. It does not specify late April, May, or June, identify middle-earlywood scars in that timing statement, or establish the timing for Ndee sites. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cites

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1 of the 96 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 13

  1. Bailey, L. R. 1964. The Long Walk: a history of the Navajo wars, 1846-68. Great West & Indian Series 26. Westernlore Press, Los Angeles, California, USA.
  2. Baisan, C., and T. Swetnam. 1990. Fire history on a desert mountain range: Rincon Mountain Wilder- ness, Arizona, USA. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 20:1559-1569.
  3. Grissino-Mayer, H. D., and T. W. Swetnam. 1997. Multi-century history of wildfire in the ponderosa pine forests of El Malpais National Monument. New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Bulletin 156:163-171.
  4. Kay, C. E. 2007. Are Lightning Fires Unnatural? A Comparison of Aboriginal and Lightning Ignition Rates in the United States. Pages 16-28 in R. E. Mas- ters and K. E. M. Galley, editors. Proceedings of the 23rd Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference: Fire in Grassland and Shrubland Ecosystems. Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
  5. Kelley, K. B. 1986. Navajo land use. Academic Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
  6. Paklaian, J. R. 2017. Holocene and late Pleistocene paleoecological history using lake sediment in the Chuska Mountains, Navajo Nation, New Mexico. Thesis. School of Earth and Sustainability, North- ern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA. PRISM [Precipitation-Elevation Regression on Inde- pendent Slopes Model]. 2016. PRISM Climate Group. http://www.prism.oregonstate.edu/
  7. Seklecki, T. M., H. D. Grissino-Mayer and T. W. Swet- nam. 1996. Fire history and the possible role of Apache-set fires in the Chiricahua Mountains of Southeastern Arizona. Pages 238-246 in P. F. Ffol- liott, L. D. DeBano, M. B. Baker, G. J. Gottfried, G. Solis-Garza, C. B. Edminster, D. G. Neary, L. S. Allen, and R. H. Hamre, editors. Proceedings of the Symposium on Effects of Fire on Madrean Pro- vince Ecosystems, March 11-14, 1996, Tucson, AZ. General Technical Report RM-GTR-289. USDA For- est Service, Washington, D.C., USA.
  8. Speer, J. H. 2010. Fundamentals of tree-ring research. Page Fundamentals of treering research. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
  9. Swetnam, T., C. Baisan, and J. Kaib. 2001. Forest fire histories of La Frontera: fire-scar reconstructions of fire regimes in the United States/Mexico border- lands. Pages 95-119 in G. Webster and C. Bahre, editors. Vegetation and Flora of La Frontera: his- toric vegetation change along the United States/ Mexico Boundary. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
  10. Touchan, R., T. Swetnam, and H. Grissino-Mayer. 1995. Effects of livestock grazing on pre-settlement fire regimes in New Mexico. Pages 268-272 in J. K. Brown, R. W. Mutch, C. W. Spoon, and R. H. Waki- moto, editors. Proceedings: Symposium on Fire in Wilderness and Park Management, Missoula, Mon- tana, March 30-April 1, 1993. General Technical Report INT-GTR-320.
  11. Vale, T. R. 2002a. Fire, native peoples, and the natural landscape. Island Press, Washington, D.C., USA.
  12. Vale, T. R. 2002b. The Pre-European Landscape of the United States: Pristine or Humanized? Pages 1-39 in T. R. Vale, editor. Fire, native peoples, and the natural landscape. Island Press, Washington, D.C., USA.
  13. Whitehair, L. 2017. Fire regime on a cultural landscape: Navajo Nation. Thesis. Northern Arizona Univer- sity, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.

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Authors
Guiterman, C. H., Margolis, E. Q., Baisan, C. H., Falk, D. A., Allen, C. D., & Swetnam, T. W.
Affiliations
  • University of Arizona (US)
  • Fort Collins Science Center (US)
Corresponding author
Guiterman, Christopher H.
ORCID
Venue
Ecosphere
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2019-11
Volume
10
Issue
11
ISSN
2150-8925 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1002/ecs2.2932
OpenAlex
W2983158926
Cited by
40
References
96
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 1
FWCI
1.80
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Ecosphere (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • UA Campus Repository (The University of Arizona) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (F13F51318)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Rangeland and Wildlife Management
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Forest Management and Policy
Keywords
historical fire regimes, livestock grazing, fire-climate relationships, Chuska Mountains, land use, fire management

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