Introduction
CharAnalysis is a program for analyzing sediment-charcoal records with the goal of peak-detection to reconstruct "local" fire history. Diagnostic tools help determine if peak detection is warranted, and if so, what parameters are most reasonable. Analytical tools help summarize results statistically and graphically. The entire code is distributed and well commented. Users are encouraged to "look under the hood", understand what's going on, and modify the program to suit individual needs.
Please contact the author at philip.higuera[at]montana.edu before publishing results from this program to make sure you have the latest version.
Papers, published or in press, using CharAnalysis:
- Higuera,
P.E., L.B. Brubaker, P.M. Anderson, F.S. Hu, T.A. Brown. 2009.
Vegetation mediated the impacts of postglacial climatic change on
fire regimes in the south-central Brooks Range, Alaska.
Ecological Monographs. 79: 201-219
- Marlon,
J.R., P.J. Bartlein, M.K. Walsh, S.P. Harrison, K.J. Brown, M.E.
Edwards, P.E. Higuera, M.J. Power, R.S. Anderson, C.
Briles, A. Brunelle, C. Carcaillet, M. Daniels, F.S. Hu, M. Lavoie,
C. Long, T. Minckley, P.J.H. Richard, S.L. Shafer, W. Tinner, C.
Umbanhowar, and C. Whitlock. 2009. Wildfire responses to abrupt climate change in North
America. PNAS 106: 2519-2524.
- Walsh, M. K., C. Whitlock, and P. J. Bartlein. 2008. A 14,300-year-long record of fire-vegetation-climate linkages at Battle Ground Lake, southwestern Washington. Quaternary Research 70:251-264.
- Huerta, M. A., C. Whitlock, and J. Yale. 2009. Holocene vegetation-fire-climate linkages in northern Yellowstone National Park, USA. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 271:170-181.
- Briles, C.E., C. Whitlock, P.J. Bartlein, and P.E. Higuera. 2008. Regional and local controls on postglacial vegetation and fire in the Siskiyou Mountains, northern California, USA. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology. 265: 159-169.
- Higuera, P. E., L. B. Brubaker, P. M. Anderson, T.
A. Brown, A. T. Kennedy, and F. S. Hu. 2008. Frequent Fires in Ancient
Shrub Tundra: Implications of Paleorecords for Arctic Environmental
Change. PLoS ONE 3:e0001744.
The following citation provides the most thorough description of CharAnalysis for peak identification using a local threshold:
- Higuera,
P.E., L.B. Brubaker, P.M. Anderson, F.S. Hu, T.A. Brown. 2009.
Vegetation mediated the impacts of postglacial climatic change on
fire regimes in the south-central Brooks Range, Alaska.
Ecological Monographs. 79: 201-219
Acknowledgements
Many features in CharAnalysis are based on the programs CHAPS, by Patrick Bartlein (U of OR), and Charster, by Daniel Gavin (U of OR). The Gaussian mixture model used in CharAnalysis was created by Charles Bouman (Purdue). CharAnalysis was written in and compiled by Matlab 7.0 with resources from the University of Washington, Montana State University, and the University of Illinois. Development of the program has benefited greatly from discussions with and testing by members of the Whitlock Paleoecology Lab at Montana State University, Dan Gavin, and Ryan Kelly. Please see the CharAnalysis User's Guide for more details.