IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/climat/v178y2025i4d10.1007_s10584-025-03903-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Monsoon-driven teleconnections between Holocene fire activity in Central Asian and Neotropical ecosystems

Author

Listed:
  • Sandra O. Camara-Brugger

    (University of Basel
    Paul Scherrer Institute)

  • Heinz Wanner

    (University of Bern
    University of Bern)

  • Erika Gobet

    (University of Bern
    University of Bern)

  • Willy Tinner

    (University of Bern
    University of Bern)

  • Margit Schwikowski

    (Paul Scherrer Institute
    University of Bern)

Abstract

Fires play an important role in the climate system. The boreal forests in Southern Siberia and the Neotropics are crucial regions for global fire emissions with only few available paleofire records. High-alpine ice archives such as Tsambagarav glacier in the Mongolian Altai and Illimani glacier in the Bolivian Andes located close to boreal and evergreen forest ecotones, respectively, are suitable to understand large-scale fire activity in these ecosystems. We discuss strong similarities between the Mongolian Altai and Neotropical ice core paleofire records with declining fire activity during the Late Holocene and hypothesize teleconnections between regional fire activity, possibly due to shared climate drivers in the Northern and Southern hemisphere. Well-documented records of South American summer monsoon activity over the Holocene show a consistent strengthening towards the Late Holocene. The related southwards shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone resulted in increased monsoonal precipitation that reduced flammability of evergreen vegetation. In contrast, Asian paleo records suggest gradually weakening monsoon activity towards the Late Holocene that resulted in regionally drier conditions. These climate trends induced retractions of boreal forests in the Mongolian Altai, thus limiting fuel availability and fire incidence. We conclude that the main driver of fire activity in these two ecosystems was not temperature, but rather monsoonal-driven moisture. More data are needed to confirm our hypothesis on monsoon-driven teleconnections between regional fire activity.

Suggested Citation

  • Sandra O. Camara-Brugger & Heinz Wanner & Erika Gobet & Willy Tinner & Margit Schwikowski, 2025. "Monsoon-driven teleconnections between Holocene fire activity in Central Asian and Neotropical ecosystems," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 178(4), pages 1-17, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:178:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1007_s10584-025-03903-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-025-03903-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10584-025-03903-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10584-025-03903-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mads Faurschou Knudsen & Marit-Solveig Seidenkrantz & Bo Holm Jacobsen & Antoon Kuijpers, 2011. "Tracking the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation through the last 8,000 years," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 2(1), pages 1-8, September.
    2. Tapio Schneider & Tobias Bischoff & Gerald H. Haug, 2014. "Migrations and dynamics of the intertropical convergence zone," Nature, Nature, vol. 513(7516), pages 45-53, September.
    3. Eric A. Davidson & Alessandro C. de Araújo & Paulo Artaxo & Jennifer K. Balch & I. Foster Brown & Mercedes M. C. Bustamante & Michael T. Coe & Ruth S. DeFries & Michael Keller & Marcos Longo & J. Will, 2012. "The Amazon basin in transition," Nature, Nature, vol. 481(7381), pages 321-328, January.
    4. Eric A. Davidson & Alessandro C. de Araújo & Paulo Artaxo & Jennifer K. Balch & I. Foster Brown & Mercedes M. C. Bustamante & Michael T. Coe & Ruth S. DeFries & Michael Keller & Marcos Longo & J. Will, 2012. "Correction: Corrigendum: The Amazon basin in transition," Nature, Nature, vol. 483(7388), pages 232-232, March.
    5. Jiawei Jiang & Bowen Meng & Huanye Wang & Hu Liu & Mu Song & Yuxin He & Cheng Zhao & Jun Cheng & Guoqiang Chu & Sergey Krivonogov & Weiguo Liu & Zhonghui Liu, 2024. "Spatial patterns of Holocene temperature changes over mid-latitude Eurasia," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    6. Francisco W. Cruz & Stephen J. Burns & Ivo Karmann & Warren D. Sharp & Mathias Vuille & Andrea O. Cardoso & José A. Ferrari & Pedro L. Silva Dias & Oduvaldo Viana, 2005. "Insolation-driven changes in atmospheric circulation over the past 116,000 years in subtropical Brazil," Nature, Nature, vol. 434(7029), pages 63-66, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Conceição, Katyanne V. & Chaves, Michel E.D. & Picoli, Michelle C.A. & Sánchez, Alber H. & Soares, Anderson R. & Mataveli, Guilherme A.V. & Silva, Daniel E. & Costa, Joelma S. & Camara, Gilberto, 2021. "Government policies endanger the indigenous peoples of the Brazilian Amazon," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. da Silva, Israel W.H. & Marques, Thiago V. & Urbano, Stela A. & Mendes, Keila R. & Oliveira, Ane Caroline C.F. & Nascimento, Fábio da S. & de Morais, Leonardo Fiusa & Pereira, Waldeir dos S. & Mutti, , 2024. "Meteorological and biophysical controls of evapotranspiration in tropical grazed pasture under rainfed conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    3. Yanfeng Wang & Ping Huang, 2022. "Potential fire risks in South America under anthropogenic forcing hidden by the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Yuanwei Qin & Xiangming Xiao & Fang Liu & Fabio Sa e Silva & Yosio Shimabukuro & Egidio Arai & Philip Martin Fearnside, 2023. "Forest conservation in Indigenous territories and protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 6(3), pages 295-305, March.
    5. Caviglia-Harris, Jill & Biggs, Trent & Ferreira, Elvino & Harris, Daniel W. & Mullan, Katrina & Sills, Erin O., 2021. "The color of water: The contributions of green and blue water to agricultural productivity in the Western Brazilian Amazon," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    6. Yue Li & Paulo M. Brando & Douglas C. Morton & David M. Lawrence & Hui Yang & James T. Randerson, 2022. "Deforestation-induced climate change reduces carbon storage in remaining tropical forests," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Jose Manuel Ochoa-Quintero & Charlotte H. Chang & Toby A. Gardner & Mariluce Rezende Messias & William J. Sutherland & Fernanda A. C. Delben, 2017. "Habitat Loss on Rondon’s Marmoset Potential Distribution," Land, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-15, January.
    8. David López-Carr, 2021. "A Review of Small Farmer Land Use and Deforestation in Tropical Forest Frontiers: Implications for Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-23, October.
    9. Ibrahim Sufiyan, 2020. "Rainfall Trend And It Impact In Keffi Nasarawa State," Engineering Heritage Journal (GWK), Zibeline International Publishing, vol. 4(1), pages 23-26, June.
    10. Alexey A. Lyubushin & Leonid B. Klyashtorin, 2012. "Short Term Global Dt Prediction Using (60–70)-Years Periodicity," Energy & Environment, , vol. 23(1), pages 75-85, January.
    11. Chen, Li & Gao, Jiti & Vahid, Farshid, 2022. "Global temperatures and greenhouse gases: A common features approach," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 230(2), pages 240-254.
    12. John Beghin, 2015. "Assessing Food Security in Tanzania in the Next Decade," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications apr-winter-2015-1, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    13. Caetano, Marco Antonio Leonel & Gherardi, Douglas Francisco Marcolino & Yoneyama, Takashi, 2013. "A constraint satisfaction method applied to the problem of controlling the CO2 emission in the Legal Brazilian Amazon," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 392(21), pages 5322-5329.
    14. Fu-Qiang Huang & Jian-Zhou Wei & Xin Song & Yong-Hong Zhang & Qi-Feng Yang & Yakov Kuzyakov & Feng-Min Li, 2021. "δ 2 H and δ 18 O in Precipitation and Water Vapor Disentangle Seasonal Wind Directions on the Loess Plateau," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-15, June.
    15. Franklin, Sergio L. & Pindyck, Robert S., 2018. "Tropical Forests, Tipping Points, and the Social Cost of Deforestation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 161-171.
    16. Raphael Portmann & Urs Beyerle & Edouard Davin & Erich M. Fischer & Steven Hertog & Sebastian Schemm, 2022. "Global forestation and deforestation affect remote climate via adjusted atmosphere and ocean circulation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    17. Júlia Alves Menezes & Ulisses Confalonieri & Ana Paula Madureira & Isabela de Brito Duval & Rhavena Barbosa dos Santos & Carina Margonari, 2018. "Mapping human vulnerability to climate change in the Brazilian Amazon: The construction of a municipal vulnerability index," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(2), pages 1-30, February.
    18. Matheus J. A. Lyra & Helber B. Gomes & Dirceu L. Herdies & Silvio N. Figueroa & Enver Ramirez & José A. Aravéquia & Maria C. L. Silva & Fabricio D. S. Silva & Heliofábio B. Gomes & Eder P. Vendrasco &, 2025. "Synoptic patterns of extreme precipitation events in Northeast Brazil," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 121(6), pages 7511-7531, April.
    19. Athayde, Simone & Duarte, Carla G. & Gallardo, Amarilis L.C.F. & Moretto, Evandro M. & Sangoi, Luisa A. & Dibo, Ana Paula A. & Siqueira-Gay, Juliana & Sánchez, Luis E., 2019. "Improving policies and instruments to address cumulative impacts of small hydropower in the Amazon," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 265-271.
    20. Xiaoting Sun & Qinghua Ding & Shih-Yu Simon Wang & Dániel Topál & Qingquan Li & Christopher Castro & Haiyan Teng & Rui Luo & Yihui Ding, 2022. "Enhanced jet stream waviness induced by suppressed tropical Pacific convection during boreal summer," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:178:y:2025:i:4:d:10.1007_s10584-025-03903-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.