@article {608,
	title = {Response of vegetation and fire to Little Ice Age climate change: regional continuity and landscape heterogeneity},
	journal = {Landscape Ecology},
	volume = {22},
	year = {2007},
	note = {Suppl. 1239unTimes Cited:25Cited References Count:92},
	pages = {25-41},
	abstract = {Late-Holocene climatic conditions in the upper Great Lakes region have changed sufficiently to produce significant changes in vegetation and fire regimes. The objective of this study was to determine how the vegetation mosaic and fire regimes on an oak (Quercus spp.)- and pine (Pines spp.)-dominated sand plain in northwestern Wisconsin responded to climatic changes of the past 1,200 years. We used pollen and charcoal records from a network of sites to investigate the range of natural variability of vegetation on a 1,500-km(2) landscape on the southern part of the sand plain. A major vegetation shift from jack pine (Pines banksiana) and red pine (P. resinosa) to increased abundance of white pine (P. strobus) occurred between 700 and 600 calendar years before present (cal yr BP), apparently corresponding to more mesic conditions regionally. A decrease in charcoal accumulation rate also occurred at most sites but was not synchronous with the vegetation change. At some sites there were further changes in vegetation and fire regimes occurring similar to 500-300 cal yr BP, but these changes were not as strong or unidirectional as those that occurred 700-600 cal yr BP. Our results suggest that both the composition and the distribution of vegetation of the southern part of the sand plain have been sensitive to relatively small climatic changes, and that the vegetation at the time of European settlement was a transitory phenomenon, rather than a long-term stable condition.},
	issn = {0921-2973},
	doi = {10.1007/s10980-007-9133-3},
	author = {Hotchkiss, S. C. and Calcote, R. and Lynch, E. A.}
}
@article {748,
	title = {Holocene climate in the western Great Lakes national parks and lakeshores: Implications for future climate change},
	journal = {Conservation Biology},
	volume = {14},
	year = {2000},
	note = {338uvTimes Cited:47Cited References Count:46},
	month = {Aug},
	pages = {968-983},
	abstract = {We reconstruct Holocene climate history (last 10,000 years) for each of the U.S. National Park Service units in the western Great Lakes region in order to evaluate their sensitivity to global warming. Annual precipitation, annual temperature, and July and January temperatures were reconstructed by comparing fossil pollen in lake sediment with pollen in surface samples, assuming that ancient climates were similar to modern climate near analogous surface samples. In the early Holocene, most of the parks experienced colder winters, warmer summers, and lower precipitation than today. An exception is Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota where, by 8000 years ago, January temperatures were higher than today. The combination of high mean annual temperature and lower precipitation at Voyageurs resulted in a dry period between 8000 and 5000 years ago, similar to the Prairie Period in regions to the south and west. A mid-Holocene warm-dry period also occurred at other northern and central parks but was much less strongly developed. In southern parks there was no clear evidence of a mid-Holocene warm-dry period. These differences suggest that global model predictions of a warm, dry climate in the northern Great Plains under doubled atmospheric CO2 may be more applicable to Voyageurs than to the other parks. The contrast in reconstructed temperatures at Voyageurs and Isle Royale indicates that the ameliorating effect of the Great Lakes on temperatures has been in effect throughout the Holocene and presumably will continue in the future, thus reducing the potential for species loss caused by future temperature extremes. Increased numbers of mesic trees at all of the parks in the late Holocene reflect increasing annual precipitation. This trend toward more mesic conditions began 6000 years ago in the south and 4000 years ago in the north and increased sharply in recent millennia at parks located today in lake-effect snow belts. This suggests that lake-effect snowfall is sensitive to continental-scale changes in climate and could be affected by future climate change. Plant and animal species sensitive to changes in the moisture regime could thus be endangered within the Great Lakes parks.},
	issn = {0888-8892},
	doi = {10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.99219.x},
	author = {Davis, M. and Douglas, C. and Calcote, R. and Cole, K. L. and Winkler, M. G. and Flakne, R.}
}
