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Professor Claire Belcher

Professor and Chair in Wildland Fire

6474

Laver Building 706

Laver Building, University of Exeter, North Park Road, Exeter, EX4 4QE, UK

Office hours:

Tuesdays 10-11am

Wednesdays 1-2pm

Overview

Claire is an Earth scientist specialising in the study of natural fires in the Earth system. Her research seeks to understand the impact of fires on ecosystems and the longer-term functioning of our planet. Claire is PI of the wildFIRE Lab a European Research Council Funded Experimental wildFIRE Laboratory see https://wildfire-lab.com/ The wildFIRE Lab teams works across the fire sciences building new understanding of the impacts of fire behaviour on ecosystems via new quantitative fire severity tools, through to understanding how variations in flammability across scales influences fire adaptations and evolutionary innovations in plants and the ability of wildfires to influence feedbacks to Earth system processes.

Claire teaches a 3rd year module entitle 'Fire Ecology and Fire Management'

Her personal wildFIRE Lab web pages are kept up to date so please refer to https://wildfire-lab.com/ for more detailed information on the teams research and for our most up-to-date Publication List see https://wildfire-lab.com/publications-2/ (because symplectic sometimes appears to take a while to add publications to this website!)

Broad Research Specialisms:

Fire and the Earth System

Fire Behaviour

Fire Severity

Qualifications

PhD, Geology, Royal Holloway University of London, U.K. 2005
MSc, Micropalaeontology, University College London, U.K. 2001
BSc, Geology, Royal Holloway University of London, U.K. 2000

Career

Jan 2018 | Professor and Chair in Wildland Fire, Dept. Geography U. Exeter

March 2015 | Associate Professor, Dept. Geography U. Exeter

Jan 2012 | Senior Lecturer Dept. Geography U. Exeter

Jan. 2011 – July 2011 | Visiting Lecturer Botany and Plant Science, NUI Galway

Oct. 2010 – Sept. 2012 | Marie Curie Experienced Research Fellow, School of Geosciences and BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering, The University of Edinburgh and transferred to the University of Exeter (on being offered a permanent position).

July 2007 – Sept. 2010 | Marie Curie Experienced Research Fellow, Program for Experimental Atmospheres and Climate, University College Dublin.

Research

Research interests

The research of the wildFIRE Lab focuses on combining the evolutionary history of our planet with modern fire science in order to understand the role that wildfires play in balancing the processes that make Earth habitable. I am an experimental scientist and am the founder and director of the U. Exeter wildFIRE Lab www.wildfire-lab.com

The wildFIRE Lab comprises equipment that is typically used in fire safety engineering in the design of materials used for construction and the aviation industry that I have adapted for the study of wildfires. Together the wildFIRE Lab team aims to revolutionise our ability to estimate the flammability of past and present ecosystems, toward building an understanding of how evolutionary innovations in plants link to changes in fire, shaping the life that we see on our planet today.

Research projects

SASSO - Soot Aerodynamic Size Selection for Optical Properties

ImpCHAR - characterising the energy flux from small impact cratering processes

Wildfire Risk and Fire Danger - how well do fire danger ratings compare with fire occurrence?

CHAROFLUX - A new quantitive fire-severity metric

JET - Jurassic Earth System and Timescale

ECOFLAM - The Impact of Plant Evolution on Fire Behaviour in Ancient Ecosystems

Project PyroMap - Palaeofire Danger Rating Maps and Earth's Last Major Global Warming Event

Project FILE – Fire Interactions with Life on Earth

Smouldering Earth – smouldering fires in peatland ecosystems.

Grants:

SASSO - NERC £779,234 (Co-I)

ImpCHAR - EU, MsC £195,500 (Co-I)

JET - NERC £1,802,014 plus $1,500,000 (Co-I)

ECOFLAM (2013-2018) - The Impact of Plant Evolution on Fire Behaviour in Ancient Ecosystems. European Research Council (ERC) Starter Grant (1,519,640 euro)(PI)

Project PyroMap (2012-2016) - Palaeofire Danger Rating Maps and Earth's Last Major Global Warming Event. EU Marie Curie CIG FP7 (~ 143,000 euros)(PI)

Smouldering Earth (2011-2015) - UCD Earth Systems Institute PRTLI – (~130,000 Euro)(Co-I)

Project FILE (2010-2012) - Fire Interactions with Life on Earth. EU Marie Curie FP7 (~ 173,000 euros)(PI)

Research grants

2013 ERC Starter Grant
ERC Starter Grant - ECOFLAM. The Impact of Plant Evolution on Fire Behaviour in Ancient Ecosystems

Publications

Key publications | Publications by category | Publications by year

Key publications

Belcher CM, Mills BJW, Vitali R, Baker SJ, Lenton TM, Watson AJ (2021). The rise of angiosperms strengthened fire feedbacks and improved the regulation of atmospheric oxygen. Nature Communications, 12(1). Abstract.

Dewhirst RA, Smirnoff N, Belcher CM (2020). Pine species that support crown fire regimes have lower leaf-level terpene contents than those native to surface fire regimes. Fire, 3(2), 1-19. Abstract.

Belcher CM, Hudspith VA (2017). Changes to Cretaceous surface fire behaviour influenced the spread of the early angiosperms. New Phytologist, 213(3), 1521-1532. Abstract.

Baker SJ, Hesselbo SP, Lenton TM, Duarte LV, Belcher CM (2017). Charcoal evidence that rising atmospheric oxygen terminated Early Jurassic ocean anoxia. Nature Communications

He T, Belcher CM, Lamont BB, Lim SL (2015). A 350-million-year legacy of fire adaptation among conifers. Journal of Ecology Abstract.

Simpson KJ, Ripley BS, Christin P, Belcher CM, Lehmann CER, Thomas GH, Osborne CP (2015). Determinants of flammability in savanna grass species. Journal of Ecology, 104(1), 138-148.

Summary

Tropical grasses fuel the majority of fires on Earth. In fire‐prone landscapes, enhanced flammability may be adaptive for grasses via the maintenance of an open canopy and an increase in spatiotemporal opportunities for recruitment and regeneration. In addition, by burning intensely but briefly, high flammability may protect resprouting buds from lethal temperatures. Despite these potential benefits of high flammability to fire‐prone grasses, variation in flammability among grass species, and how trait differences underpin this variation, remains unknown.

By burning leaves and plant parts, we experimentally determined how five plant traits (biomass quantity, biomass density, biomass moisture content, leaf surface‐area‐to‐volume ratio and leaf effective heat of combustion) combined to determine the three components of flammability (ignitability, sustainability and combustibility) at the leaf and plant scales in 25 grass species of fire‐prone South African grasslands at a time of peak fire occurrence. The influence of evolutionary history on flammability was assessed based on a phylogeny built here for the study species.

Grass species differed significantly in all components of flammability. Accounting for evolutionary history helped to explain patterns in leaf‐scale combustibility and sustainability. The five measured plant traits predicted components of flammability, particularly leaf ignitability and plant combustibility in which 70% and 58% of variation, respectively, could be explained by a combination of the traits. Total above‐ground biomass was a key driver of combustibility and sustainability with high biomass species burning more intensely and for longer, and producing the highest predicted fire spread rates. Moisture content was the main influence on ignitability, where species with higher moisture contents took longer to ignite and once alight burnt at a slower rate. Biomass density, leaf surface‐area‐to‐volume ratio and leaf effective heat of combustion were weaker predictors of flammability components.

Synthesis. We demonstrate that grass flammability is predicted from easily measurable plant functional traits and is influenced by evolutionary history with some components showing phylogenetic signal. Grasses are not homogenous fuels to fire. Rather, species differ in functional traits that in turn demonstrably influence flammability. This diversity is consistent with the idea that flammability may be an adaptive trait for grasses of fire‐prone ecosystems.

Abstract.

Publications by category

Books

Belcher CM (2013). Fire Phenomena and the Earth System: an Interdisciplinary Guide to Fire Science., Wiley.

Journal articles

New SL, Belcher C, Hudspith VA, Gallego-Sala AV (In Press). Holocene fire history: can evidence of peat burning be found in the palaeo-archive?. Mires and Peat, 18, 1-11. Abstract.

Belcher CM (In Press). The influence of leaf morphology on litter flammability and its utility for interpreting palaeofire. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London: Biological Sciences

Linley GD, Jolly CJ, Doherty TS, Geary WL, Armenteras D, Belcher CM, Bliege Bird R, Duane A, Fletcher M-S, Giorgis MA, et al (2022). What do you mean, 'megafire'?. GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY, 31(10), 1906-1922. Author URL.

Belcher CM, New SL, Gallagher MR, Grosvenor MJ, Clark K, Skowronski NS (2021). Bark charcoal reflectance may have the potential to estimate the heat delivered to tree boles by wildland fires. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE, 30(5), 391-397. Author URL.

Denis EH, Maibauer BJ, Bowen GJ, Jardine PE, Harrington GJ, Baczynski AA, McInerney FA, Belcher CM, Collinson ME, Wing SL, et al (2021). Decreased soil carbon in a warming world: Degraded pyrogenic carbon during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 566 Abstract.

Solofondranohatra CL, Vorontsova MS, Dewhirst RA, Belcher CM, Cable S, Jeannoda V, Lehmann CER (2021). Shade alters the growth and architecture of tropical grasses by reducing root biomass. Biotropica, 53(4), 1052-1062. Abstract.

Losiak A, Joeleht A, Plado J, Szyszka M, Kirsimae K, Wild EM, Steier P, Belcher CM, Jazwa AM, Helde R, et al (2020). Determining the age and possibility for an extraterrestrial impact formation mechanism of the Ilumetsa structures (Estonia). METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, 55(2), 274-293. Author URL.

Hudspith VA, Belcher CM (2020). Some semifusinite in coal may form during diagenesis, not wildfires. International Journal of Coal Geology, 218 Abstract.

Crawford AJ, Belcher CM (2020). Volumetric measurement of fossil charcoal: Principles, applications and potential. Holocene, 30(10), 1481-1487. Abstract.

Boulton CA, Belcher CM (2019). A novel approach for predicting the probability of ignition of palaeofires using fossil leaf assemblages. Palaeontology, 62(5), 715-730. Abstract.

Baker SJ, Belcher CM, Barclay RS, Hesselbo SP, Laurin J, Sageman BB (2019). CO2-induced climate forcing on the fire record during the initiation of Cretaceous oceanic anoxic event 2. Geological Society of America Bulletin

Harrison ME, Ottay JB, D’Arcy LJ, Cheyne SM, Anggodo, Belcher C, Cole L, Dohong A, Ermiasi Y, Feldpausch T, et al (2019). Tropical forest and peatland conservation in Indonesia: Challenges and directions. People and Nature, 2(1), 4-28.

Abstract

Tropical forests and peatlands provide important ecological, climate and socio‐economic benefits from the local to the global scale. However, these ecosystems and their associated benefits are threatened by anthropogenic activities, including agricultural conversion, timber harvesting, peatland drainage and associated fire. Here, we identify key challenges, and provide potential solutions and future directions to meet forest and peatland conservation and restoration goals in Indonesia, with a particular focus on Kalimantan.

Through a round‐table, dual‐language workshop discussion and literature evaluation, we recognized 59 political, economic, legal, social, logistical and research challenges, for which five key underlying factors were identified. These challenges relate to the 3Rs adopted by the Indonesian Peatland Restoration Agency (Rewetting, Revegetation and Revitalization), plus a fourth R that we suggest is essential to incorporate into (peatland) conservation planning: Reducing Fires.

Our analysis suggests that (a) all challenges have potential for impact on activities under all 4Rs, and many are inter‐dependent and mutually reinforcing, implying that narrowly focused solutions are likely to carry a higher risk of failure; (b) addressing challenges relating to Rewetting and Reducing Fire is critical for achieving goals in all 4Rs, as is considering the local socio‐political situation and acquiring local government and community support; and (c) the suite of challenges faced, and thus conservation interventions required to address these, will be unique to each project, depending on its goals and prevailing local environmental, social and political conditions.

With this in mind, we propose an eight‐step adaptive management framework, which could support projects in both Indonesia and other tropical areas to identify and overcome their specific conservation and restoration challenges.

A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Abstract.

Walding NG, Williams HTP, McGarvie S, Belcher CM (2018). A comparison of the US National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) with recorded fire occurrence and final fire size. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 27(2), 99-113. Abstract.

Archibald S, Lehmann CER, Belcher CM, Bond WJ, Bradstock RA, Daniau A-L, Dexter KG, Ferrestel EJ, Greve M, He T, et al (2018). Biological and geophysical feedbacks with fire in the Earth system. Environmental Research Letters, 13

Hudspith VA, Hadden RM, Bartlett AI, Belcher CM (2018). Does fuel type influence the amount of charcoal produced in wildfires? Implications for the fossil record. Palaeontology, 61(2), 159-171. Abstract.

Doerr SH, Santín C, Merino A, Belcher CM, Baxter G (2018). Fire as a Removal Mechanism of Pyrogenic Carbon from the Environment: Effects of Fire and Pyrogenic Carbon Characteristics. Frontiers in Earth Science, 6 Abstract.

Crawford AJ, Baker SJ, Belcher CM (2018). Fossil charcoals from the Lower Jurassic challenge assumptions about charcoal morphology and identification. Palaeontology, 61(1), 49-56. Abstract.

Cardoso AW, Oliveras I, Abernethy KA, Jeffery KJ, Lehmann D, Edzang Ndong J, McGregor I, Belcher CM, Bond WJ, Malhi YS, et al (2018). Grass Species Flammability, Not Biomass, Drives Changes in Fire Behavior at Tropical Forest-Savanna Transitions. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, 1

Forest-savanna mosaics are maintained by fire-mediated positive feedbacks; whereby forest is fire suppressive and savanna is fire promoting. Forest-savanna transitions therefore represent the interface of opposing fire regimes. Within the transition there is a threshold point at which tree canopy cover becomes sufficiently dense to shade out grasses and thus suppress fire. Prior to reaching this threshold, changes in fire behavior may already be occurring within the savanna. Such changes are neither empirically described nor their drivers understood. Fire behavior is largely driven by fuel flammability. Flammability can vary significantly between grass species and grass species composition can change near forest-savanna transitions. This study measured fire behavior changes at eighteen forest-savanna transition sites in a vegetation mosaic in Lopé National Park in Gabon, central Africa. The extent to which these changes could be attributed to changes in grass flammability was determined using species-specific flammability traits. Results showed simultaneous suppression of fire and grass biomass when tree canopy leaf area index (LAI) reached a value of 3, indicating that a fire suppression threshold existed within the forest-savanna transition. Fires became less intense and less hot prior to reaching this fire suppression threshold. These changes were associated with higher LAI values, which induced a change in the grass community, from one dominated by the highly flammable Anadelphia afzeliana to one dominated by the less flammable Hyparrhenia diplandra. Changes in fire behavior were not associated with changes in total grass biomass. This study demonstrated not only the presence of a fire suppression threshold but the mechanism of its action. Grass composition mediated fire-behavior within the savanna prior to reaching the suppression threshold, and grass species composition was mediated by tree canopy cover which was in turn mediated by fire-behavior. These findings highlight how biotic and abiotic controls interact and amplify each other in this mosaicked landscape to facilitate forest and savanna co-existence.

Abstract.

Haworth M, Belcher CM, Killi D, Dewhirst RA, Materassi A, Raschi A, Centritto M (2018). Impaired photosynthesis and increased leaf construction costs may induce floral stress during episodes of global warming over macroevolutionary timescales. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 8 Author URL.

New SL, Hudspith VA, Belcher CM (2018). Quantitative charcoal reflectance measurements better link to regrowth potential than ground-based fire-severity assessments following a recent heathland wildfire at Carn Brea, Cornwall, UK. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 27(12), 845-850. Abstract.

Belcher CM, New SL, Santín C, Doerr SH, Dewhirst RA, Grosvenor MJ, Hudspith VA (2018). What can charcoal reflectance tell us about energy release in wildfires and the properties of pyrogenic carbon?. Frontiers in Earth Science, 6 Abstract.

Belcher CM, Hudspith VA (2017). Changes to Cretaceous surface fire behaviour influenced the spread of the early angiosperms. New Phytologist, 213(3), 1521-1532. Abstract.

Baker SJ, Hesselbo SP, Lenton TM, Duarte LV, Belcher CM (2017). Charcoal evidence that rising atmospheric oxygen terminated Early Jurassic ocean anoxia. Nature Communications

Hudspith VA, Belcher CM, Barnes J, Dash CB, Kelly R, Hu FS (2017). Charcoal reflectance suggests heating duration and fuel moisture affected burn severity in four Alaskan tundra wildfires. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE, 26(4), 306-316. Author URL.

Prat-Guitart N, Belcher CM, Thompson DK, Burns P, Yearsley JM (2017). Fine-scale distribution of moisture in the surface of a degraded blanket bog and its effects on the potential spread of smouldering fire. Ecohydrology, 10(8). Abstract.

Hudspith VA, Belcher CM (2017). Fire biases the production of charred flowers: Implications for the Cretaceous fossil record. Geology, 45(8), 727-730. Abstract.

Hudspith VA, Belcher CM (2017). Observations of the structural changes that occur during charcoalification: implications for identifying charcoal in the fossil record. Palaeontology, 60(4), 503-510. Abstract.

Mills BJW, Belcher CM, Lenton TM, Newton RJ (2016). A modeling case for high atmospheric oxygen concentrations during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Geology, 44(12), 1023-1026. Abstract.

Prat-Guitart N, Rein G, Hadden RM, Belcher CM, Yearsley JM (2016). Effects of spatial heterogeneity in moisture content on the horizontal spread of peat fires. Sci Total Environ, 572, 1422-1430. Abstract. Author URL.

Roos CI, Scott AC, Belcher CM, Chaloner WG, Aylen J, Bird RB, Coughlan MR, Johnson BR, Johnston FH, McMorrow J, et al (2016). Living on a flammable planet: Interdisciplinary, cross-scalar and varied cultural lessons, prospects and challenges. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371(1696). Abstract.

Prat-Guitart N, Rein G, Hadden RM, Belcher CM, Yearsley JM (2016). Propagation probability and spread rates of self-sustained smouldering fires under controlled moisture content and bulk density conditions. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE, 25(4), 456-465. Author URL.

Belcher CM, Hudspith VA (2016). The formation of charcoal reflectance and its potential use in post-fire assessments. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 25(7), 775-779. Abstract.

Scott AC, Chaloner WG, Belcher CM, Roos CI (2016). The interaction of fire and mankind. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371(1696).

Scott AC, Chaloner WG, Belcher CM, Roos CI (2016). The interaction of fire and mankind: Introduction. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371(1696). Abstract.

He T, Belcher CM, Lamont BB, Lim SL (2015). A 350-million-year legacy of fire adaptation among conifers. Journal of Ecology Abstract.

Belcher CM, Hadden RM, Rein G, Morgan JV, Artemieva N, Goldin T (2015). An experimental assessment of the ignition of forest fuels by the thermal pulse generated by the cretaceous–palaeogene impact at chicxulub. Journal of the Geological Society, 172(2), 175-185. Abstract.

Crawford AJ, Belcher CM (2015). Area–volume relationships for fossil charcoal and their relevance for fire history reconstruction. The Holocene, 26(5), 822-826. Abstract.

Hudspith VA, Belcher CM, Kelly R, Hu FS (2015). Charcoal reflectance reveals early holocene boreal deciduous forests burned at high intensities. PLoS One, 10(4). Abstract. Author URL.

Simpson KJ, Ripley BS, Christin P, Belcher CM, Lehmann CER, Thomas GH, Osborne CP (2015). Determinants of flammability in savanna grass species. Journal of Ecology, 104(1), 138-148.

Abstract.

Hudspith VA, Rimmer SM, Belcher CM (2015). Latest Permian chars may derive from wildfires, not coal combustion: REPLY. Geology Forum, 43(5), p. e363-p. e363.

Mander L, Baker SJ, Belcher CM, Haselhorst DS, Rodriguez J, Thorn JL, Tiwari S, Urrego DH, Wesseln CJ, Punyasena SW, et al (2014). Accuracy and consistency of grass pollen identification by human analysts using electron micrographs of surface ornamentation. Appl Plant Sci, 2(8). Abstract. Author URL.

Crawford AJ, Belcher CM (2014). Charcoal morphometry for paleoecological analysis: the effects of fuel type and transportation on morphological parameters. Appl Plant Sci, 2(8). Abstract. Author URL.

Hudspith VA, Belcher CM, Yearsley JM (2014). Charring temperatures are driven by the fuel types burned in a peatland wildfire. Frontiers in Plant Science, 5(DEC). Abstract.

Hudspith VA, Rimmer SM, Belcher CM (2014). Latest Permian chars may derive from wildfires, not coal combustion. Geology, 42(10), 879-882. Abstract.

Zaccone C, Rein G, D'Orazio V, Hadden RM, Belcher CM, Miano TM (2014). Smouldering fire signatures in peat and their implications for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 137, 134-146. Abstract.

Hesselbo SP, Bjerrum CJ, Hinnov LA, MacNiocaill C, Miller KG, Riding JB, van de Schootbrugge B, Mochras Revisited Science Team (2013). Mochras borehole revisited: a new global standard for Early Jurassic earth history. Scientific Drilling, 16, 81-91.

Belcher CM, Punyasena SW, Sivaguru M (2013). Novel application of confocal laser scanning microscopy and 3D volume rendering toward improving the resolution of the fossil record of charcoal. PLoS One, 8(8). Abstract. Author URL.

Belcher CM (2013). Preface. Fire Phenomena and the Earth System: an Interdisciplinary Guide to Fire Science

Hadden RM, Rein G, Belcher CM (2013). Study of the competing chemical reactions in the initiation and spread of smouldering combustion in peat. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 34(2), 2547-2553. Abstract.

He T, Pausas JG, Belcher CM, Schwilk DW, Lamont BB (2012). Fire‐adapted traits of Pinus arose in the fiery Cretaceous. New Phytologist, 194(3), 751-759. Abstract.

Bacon KL, Belcher CM, Hesselbo SP, McElwain JC (2011). The Triassic-Jurassic Boundary Carbon-Isoptope Excursions Expressed in Taxonically Identified Leaf Cuticles. PALAIOS, 26, 461-469.

Belcher CM, Yearsley JM, Hadden RM, McElwain JC, Rein G (2010). Baseline Intrinsic Flammability of Earth’s Ecosystems Estimated from Paleoatmospheric Oxygen over the Past 350 Million Years. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107, 22448-22453.

Belcher CM (2010). From Fiery Beginnings: Wildfires Facilitated the Spread of Angiosperms in the Cretaceous. New Phytologist(188), 913-915.

Belcher CM, Mander L, Rein G, Jervis FX, Haworth M, Glasspool IJ, Hesselbo SP, McElwain JC (2010). Increased Fire Activity at the Triassic/Jurassic Boundary in Greenland due to Climate-Driven Floral Change. Nature Geoscience, 3, 426-429.

Belcher CM, Finch P, Collinson ME, Scott AC, Grassineau NV (2009). Geochemical Evidence for Combustion of Hydrocarbons During the K-T Impact Event. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106, 4112-4117.

Belcher CM (2009). Reigniting the Cretaceous-Palaeogene Firestorm Debate. Geology, 37, 1147-1148.

Harvey MC, Brassell SC, Belcher CM, Montanari A (2008). Combustion of Fossil Organic Matter at the K-P Boundary. Geology, 36, 335-358.

Belcher CM, McElwain JC (2008). Limits for Combustion in Low O2 Redefine Paleoatmospheric Predictions for the Mesozoic. Science, 321, 1197-1200.

Morgan J, Lana C, Kearsley A, Coles B, Belcher CM, Montanari S, Dias E, Barbosa E, Neumann V (2006). Analyses of Shocked Quartz at the Global K-P Boundary Indicate an Origin from a Single, High- Angle, Oblique Impact at Chicxulub. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 251, 264-279.

Belcher CM, Collinson ME, Scott AC (2005). Constraints on the Thermal Power Released from the Chicxulub Impactor: New Evidence from Multi-Method Charcoal Analysis. Journal of the Geological Society of London, 162, 591-602.

Belcher CM, Collinson ME, Sweet AR, Hildebrand AR, Scott AC (2004). Reply to comment on Fireball Passes and Nothing Burns - the Role of Thermal Radiation in the K-T Event: Evidence from the Charcoal Record of North America by Robertson et al.. Geology, 32, e50-e51.

Belcher CM, Collinson ME, Sweet AR, Hildebrand AR, Scott AC (2003). Fireball Passes and Nothing Burns - the Role of Thermal Radiation in the K-T Event: Evidence from the Charcoal Record of North America. Geology, 31, 1061-1064.

Chapters

Torrence K, Switzer C, Carvel R, Hadden RM, Belcher CM (In Press). Self-sustained smouldering combustion of a coal-waster heap in central Scotland. In Stracher GB, Prakash A, Sokol EV (Eds.) .

Prat-Guitart N, Nugent C, Mullen E, Mitchell FJG, Hawthorne D, Belcher CM, Yearsley JM (2018). History of irish peatland fires. In (Ed) Coal and Peat Fires: a Global Perspective, 452-482.

Prat-Guitart N, Hadden RM, Belcher CM, Rein G, Yearsley JM (2015). Infrared Image Analysis as a Tool for Studying the Horizontal Smoldering Propagation of Laboratory Peat Fires. In (Ed) Coal and Peat Fires: a Global Perspective, 121-139. Abstract.

Belcher CM, Collinson ME, Scott AC (2013). A 450-Million-Year History of Fire. In Belcher CM (Ed) Fire Phenomena and the Earth System: an interdisciplinary Guide to Fire Science, Wiley, 229-229.

Belcher CM, Mander L (2012). Catastrophe: Extraterrestrial Impacts, Massive Volcanism and the Biosphere. In Henderson-Sellers A, McGuffie K (Eds.) Future Climates of the World, 463-485.

Belcher CM (2006). Impacts and Wildfires - an Analysis of the K-T Event. In Cockell C, Koerberl C, Gilmour I (Eds.) Biological Processes Associated with Impact Events, Springer, 221-243.

Conferences

New SL, Hudspith VA, Belcher CM (2018). Assessing fire severity using charcoal reflectance following a recent heathland wildfire on Carn Brea, Cornwall, UK. Author URL.

Losiak A, Belcher C, Hudspith V, Bronikowska M, Zhu M, Joeleht A, Plado J, Wilk J (2016). KAALI IMPACT CRATER: IMPACT-PRODUCED CHARCOAL SHEDS LIGHT ON THE PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH THE FORMATION OF SMALL CRATERS. Author URL.

Publications by year

In Press

New SL, Belcher C, Hudspith VA, Gallego-Sala AV (In Press). Holocene fire history: can evidence of peat burning be found in the palaeo-archive?. Mires and Peat, 18, 1-11. Abstract.

Torrence K, Switzer C, Carvel R, Hadden RM, Belcher CM (In Press). Self-sustained smouldering combustion of a coal-waster heap in central Scotland. In Stracher GB, Prakash A, Sokol EV (Eds.) .

2022

2021

2020

New S (2020). Charcoal reflectance: a quantitative approach to understanding the impact of fire on an ecosystem. Abstract.

Hudspith VA, Belcher CM (2020). Some semifusinite in coal may form during diagenesis, not wildfires. International Journal of Coal Geology, 218 Abstract.

Crawford AJ, Belcher CM (2020). Volumetric measurement of fossil charcoal: Principles, applications and potential. Holocene, 30(10), 1481-1487. Abstract.

2019

Boulton CA, Belcher CM (2019). A novel approach for predicting the probability of ignition of palaeofires using fossil leaf assemblages. Palaeontology, 62(5), 715-730. Abstract.

Pointer R (2019). Fire & Global Change During Key Intervals of the Late Triassic & Early Jurassic with a Focus on the Central Polish Basin.

Core from modern-day Poland recovering fluvial and paralic strata provides an excellent record of climatic and environmental changes in the Central Polish Basin during two key intervals of the Early Jurassic. Thick successions of Rhaetian-Hettangian and Pliensbachian-Toarcian age are examined using a number of techniques in order to understand the wildfire activity history, carbon-cycle interactions, and organic matter composition of sediments at two sites in the Central Polish Basin. Physical and geochemical proxies for wildfire activity show evidence of increased wildfire activity both prior to and after the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE) at the Kazewy-1 site, with suppression of wildfire activity during the negative carbon-isotope excursion of the OAE. Correlation with published wildfire activity proxy records from additional sites in the Tethyan realm shows that this pattern was not limited to the Central Polish Basin, but is part of a wider, regional change. Additionally, new wildfire activity proxy records show increased wildfire activity across the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary at the Kaszewy-1 and Niekłań PIG-1 sites in the Central Polish Basin, correlating with other contemporaneous proxy records from Denmark and Greenland. New carbon-isotope records generated from terrestrial organic matter from the Niekłań PIG-1 core show trends towards heavier δ¹³C values immediately after the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary, providing evidence of a perturbation to the carbon-cycle at this time. Exploratory investigation of sediments from the Kaszewy-1 core provides a new record of BIT indices of Early Jurassic sediments, surpassing the oldest-known use of this terrestrial organic matter input proxy. Additionally, a newly-developed technique is used to investigate carbon-isotope variability in fossil terrestrial organic matter across the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event carbon-isotope excursions. A new record of individual phytoclast δ¹³C values demonstrates that, despite δ¹³C variability between phytoclasts from a single horizon, larger overall trends in δ¹³C values can be identified from single phytoclast δ¹³C measurements.Core from modern-day Poland recovering fluvial and paralic strata provides an excellent record of climatic and environmental changes in the Central Polish Basin during two key intervals of the Early Jurassic. Thick successions of Rhaetian-Hettangian and Pliensbachian-Toarcian age are examined using a number of techniques in order to understand the wildfire activity history, carbon-cycle interactions, and organic matter composition of sediments at two sites in the Central Polish Basin. Physical and geochemical proxies for wildfire activity show evidence of increased wildfire activity both prior to and after the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE) at the Kazewy-1 site, with suppression of wildfire activity during the negative carbon-isotope excursion of the OAE. Correlation with published wildfire activity proxy records from additional sites in the Tethyan realm shows that this pattern was not limited to the Central Polish Basin, but is part of a wider, regional change. Additionally, new wildfire activity proxy records show increased wildfire activity across the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary at the Kaszewy-1 and Niekłań PIG-1 sites in the Central Polish Basin, correlating with other contemporaneous proxy records from Denmark and Greenland. New carbon-isotope records generated from terrestrial organic matter from the Niekłań PIG-1 core show trends towards heavier δ¹³C values immediately after the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary, providing evidence of a perturbation to the carbon-cycle at this time. Exploratory investigation of sediments from the Kaszewy-1 core provides a new record of BIT indices of Early Jurassic sediments, surpassing the oldest-known use of this terrestrial organic matter input proxy. Additionally, a newly-developed technique is used to investigate carbon-isotope variability in fossil terrestrial organic matter across the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event carbon-isotope excursions. A new record of individual phytoclast δ¹³C values demonstrates that, despite δ¹³C variability between phytoclasts from a single horizon, larger overall trends in δ¹³C values can be identified from single phytoclast δ¹³C measurements.

Abstract.

2018

New SL, Hudspith VA, Belcher CM (2018). Assessing fire severity using charcoal reflectance following a recent heathland wildfire on Carn Brea, Cornwall, UK. Author URL.

Crawford AJ, Baker SJ, Belcher CM (2018). Fossil charcoals from the Lower Jurassic challenge assumptions about charcoal morphology and identification. Palaeontology, 61(1), 49-56. Abstract.

Abstract.

Prat-Guitart N, Nugent C, Mullen E, Mitchell FJG, Hawthorne D, Belcher CM, Yearsley JM (2018). History of irish peatland fires. In (Ed) Coal and Peat Fires: a Global Perspective, 452-482.

2017

Belcher CM, Hudspith VA (2017). Changes to Cretaceous surface fire behaviour influenced the spread of the early angiosperms. New Phytologist, 213(3), 1521-1532. Abstract.

Baker SJ, Hesselbo SP, Lenton TM, Duarte LV, Belcher CM (2017). Charcoal evidence that rising atmospheric oxygen terminated Early Jurassic ocean anoxia. Nature Communications

Hudspith VA, Belcher CM (2017). Fire biases the production of charred flowers: Implications for the Cretaceous fossil record. Geology, 45(8), 727-730. Abstract.

2016

Mills BJW, Belcher CM, Lenton TM, Newton RJ (2016). A modeling case for high atmospheric oxygen concentrations during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Geology, 44(12), 1023-1026. Abstract.

Belcher CM, Hudspith VA (2016). The formation of charcoal reflectance and its potential use in post-fire assessments. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 25(7), 775-779. Abstract.

Scott AC, Chaloner WG, Belcher CM, Roos CI (2016). The interaction of fire and mankind. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371(1696).

2015

He T, Belcher CM, Lamont BB, Lim SL (2015). A 350-million-year legacy of fire adaptation among conifers. Journal of Ecology Abstract.

Crawford AJ, Belcher CM (2015). Area–volume relationships for fossil charcoal and their relevance for fire history reconstruction. The Holocene, 26(5), 822-826. Abstract.

Hudspith VA, Belcher CM, Kelly R, Hu FS (2015). Charcoal reflectance reveals early holocene boreal deciduous forests burned at high intensities. PLoS One, 10(4). Abstract. Author URL.

Simpson KJ, Ripley BS, Christin P, Belcher CM, Lehmann CER, Thomas GH, Osborne CP (2015). Determinants of flammability in savanna grass species. Journal of Ecology, 104(1), 138-148.

Abstract.

Hudspith VA, Rimmer SM, Belcher CM (2015). Latest Permian chars may derive from wildfires, not coal combustion: REPLY. Geology Forum, 43(5), p. e363-p. e363.

2014

Hudspith VA, Belcher CM, Yearsley JM (2014). Charring temperatures are driven by the fuel types burned in a peatland wildfire. Frontiers in Plant Science, 5(DEC). Abstract.

Hudspith VA, Rimmer SM, Belcher CM (2014). Latest Permian chars may derive from wildfires, not coal combustion. Geology, 42(10), 879-882. Abstract.

2013

Belcher CM (2013). Fire Phenomena and the Earth System: an Interdisciplinary Guide to Fire Science., Wiley.

Belcher CM (2013). Preface. Fire Phenomena and the Earth System: an Interdisciplinary Guide to Fire Science

2012

Belcher CM, Mander L (2012). Catastrophe: Extraterrestrial Impacts, Massive Volcanism and the Biosphere. In Henderson-Sellers A, McGuffie K (Eds.) Future Climates of the World, 463-485.

He T, Pausas JG, Belcher CM, Schwilk DW, Lamont BB (2012). Fire‐adapted traits of Pinus arose in the fiery Cretaceous. New Phytologist, 194(3), 751-759. Abstract.

2011

Bacon KL, Belcher CM, Hesselbo SP, McElwain JC (2011). The Triassic-Jurassic Boundary Carbon-Isoptope Excursions Expressed in Taxonically Identified Leaf Cuticles. PALAIOS, 26, 461-469.

2010

Belcher CM (2010). From Fiery Beginnings: Wildfires Facilitated the Spread of Angiosperms in the Cretaceous. New Phytologist(188), 913-915.

2009

Belcher CM (2009). Reigniting the Cretaceous-Palaeogene Firestorm Debate. Geology, 37, 1147-1148.

2008

Harvey MC, Brassell SC, Belcher CM, Montanari A (2008). Combustion of Fossil Organic Matter at the K-P Boundary. Geology, 36, 335-358.

Belcher CM, McElwain JC (2008). Limits for Combustion in Low O2 Redefine Paleoatmospheric Predictions for the Mesozoic. Science, 321, 1197-1200.

2006

Belcher CM (2006). Impacts and Wildfires - an Analysis of the K-T Event. In Cockell C, Koerberl C, Gilmour I (Eds.) Biological Processes Associated with Impact Events, Springer, 221-243.

2005

2004

2003

Claire_Belcher Details from cache as at 2023-12-05 18:06:17

Refresh publications

External Engagement and Impact

Awards/Honorary fellowships

Awards:

Distinguished Paper in Fire Research Award 2013 – 34th International Symposium on Combustion. The Combustion Institute for Hadden, R.M., Rein, G., Belcher, C.M. (2013). PROCI, 34 (2), 2547-2553.

EU Marie Curie Prize 2012 in Communicating Science – For science communication under FP6 and FP7.

Atmospheric Science Librarians International Choice Award - for “The Future of the World’s Climate” (A. Henderson-Sellers and K. McGuffie Eds).

“Best Paper for 2011” - awarded by the editors and associate editors of PALAIOS for Bacon, K.L., Belcher, C.M., Hesselbo, S.P. and McElwain, J.C. (2011) PALAIOS 24 461–469

Shortlisted Scientist Lloyds Science of Risk Competition 2010 – “Earth’s Fiery Future”

UCD Images of Research Competition 2008 - Judges Mention for “Thermal Image of Burning Sphagnum Moss”

Palaeontological Association President’s Prize - Awarded for best oral presentation by a member of the association (aged under 30). The Palaeontological Association Annual Meeting, Lille, 2004.

Publication Award - For doctoral achievement; best publication 2003 (Belcher et al., 2003), Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL).

The Tennant Medal - For highest exam scores by a final year geology B.Sc. student 2000, RHUL.

Kate and Harry Harper Chelsea Prize - For best 2nd year geology student 1999, RHUL.

Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland Student Award Winner - Highest Exam Scores 1999.

Fellowships:

Fellow of the Linnaean Society (FLS)

Current/ Recent Membership of editorial boards and conference organization

Guest Associate Chief Editor, Frontiers in Functional Plant Ecology (2014)

http://www.frontiersin.org/Functional_Plant_Ecology/researchtopics/Understanding_the_flammability/2453

Editorial Board Member - Dataset Papers in Geosciences http://www.datasets.com/journals/geosciences/editors/geology/

Organiser Royal Society Discussion Meeting and Kavli Satellite Meeting for “The Interaction of Fire and Mankind” 14-17th September 2015 Prof. Scott, Prof. Chaloner (FRS) Dr Belcher and Dr Roos.

Administrative Responsibiities

Panel and Jury member for the EU Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions prizes
Geography Athena Swan Working Group, University of Exeter; September 2013-2015

Geography Athena Swan Core Group, University of Exeter; September 2014-2015

Geography Athena Swan Drafting Group, Silver Application, University of Exeter; September 2013-2014.

Research Group Leader for Earth System Science, University of Exeter; April 2014- September 2015

Module co-ordinator GEO3226 Co-Evolution of Life and the Planet, University of Exeter. September 2012-2014

Recent Notable Invited Presentations

Lecture “Ada Lovelace” talk, Norman Lockyer Observatory, Sidmouth Science Festival, Sidmouth October 2014

Invited talk Technical Sessions Geological Society of America Annual Meeting 2014, Vancouver

Keynote Pardee Symposia Geological Society of America Annual Meeting 2014, Vancouver

See http://community.geosociety.org/gsa2014/science/sessions/pardee

TEDx Talk Ideas without Frontiers 28th March 2014 Northcott Theatre, Exeter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ94M_Cxiak

Lecture Devonshire Association Geology Section – Teignmouth 15th March 2014.

Teaching

Current undergraduate courses:

GEO 3241 - Fire Ecology and Fire Management

Previous Undergraduate courses taught:

GEO 1207 Earth Systems

GEO 2309 Physical Geography Practice

GEO 2223 World of Fire and Ice

GEO 3226 Co-Evolution of Life and the Planet

Modules

2023/24

GEOM149 - Green Planet

Supervision / Group

Postdoctoral researchers

Mark Grosvenor ERC Research Technician
Victoria Hudspith ERC Research Fellow

Postgraduate researchers

Sarah Baker PhD
Alastair Crawford PhD
Robyn Pointer PhD
Nicholas Walding PhD

Alumni

Stacey New MRes

Back | Edit Profile

Staff

Professor Claire Belcher

Professor and Chair in Wildland Fire

Overview

Broad Research Specialisms:

Qualifications

Career

Links

Research

Research interests

Research projects

Grants:

Research grants

Links

Publications

Key publications

Abstract:The rise of angiosperms strengthened fire feedbacks and improved the regulation of atmospheric oxygen

Abstract:Pine species that support crown fire regimes have lower leaf-level terpene contents than those native to surface fire regimes

Abstract:Changes to Cretaceous surface fire behaviour influenced the spread of the early angiosperms

Abstract:A 350-million-year legacy of fire adaptation among conifers

Abstract:Determinants of flammability in savanna grass species

Publications by category

Books

Journal articles

Abstract:Holocene fire history: can evidence of peat burning be found in the palaeo-archive?

Abstract:Decreased soil carbon in a warming world: Degraded pyrogenic carbon during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming

Abstract:Shade alters the growth and architecture of tropical grasses by reducing root biomass

Abstract:The rise of angiosperms strengthened fire feedbacks and improved the regulation of atmospheric oxygen

Abstract:Pine species that support crown fire regimes have lower leaf-level terpene contents than those native to surface fire regimes

Abstract:Some semifusinite in coal may form during diagenesis, not wildfires

Abstract:Volumetric measurement of fossil charcoal: Principles, applications and potential

Abstract:A novel approach for predicting the probability of ignition of palaeofires using fossil leaf assemblages

Abstract:Tropical forest and peatland conservation in Indonesia: Challenges and directions

Abstract:A comparison of the US National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) with recorded fire occurrence and final fire size

Abstract:Does fuel type influence the amount of charcoal produced in wildfires? Implications for the fossil record

Abstract:Fire as a Removal Mechanism of Pyrogenic Carbon from the Environment: Effects of Fire and Pyrogenic Carbon Characteristics

Abstract:Fossil charcoals from the Lower Jurassic challenge assumptions about charcoal morphology and identification

Abstract:Grass Species Flammability, Not Biomass, Drives Changes in Fire Behavior at Tropical Forest-Savanna Transitions

Abstract:Quantitative charcoal reflectance measurements better link to regrowth potential than ground-based fire-severity assessments following a recent heathland wildfire at Carn Brea, Cornwall, UK

Abstract:What can charcoal reflectance tell us about energy release in wildfires and the properties of pyrogenic carbon?

Abstract:Changes to Cretaceous surface fire behaviour influenced the spread of the early angiosperms

Abstract:Fine-scale distribution of moisture in the surface of a degraded blanket bog and its effects on the potential spread of smouldering fire

Abstract:Fire biases the production of charred flowers: Implications for the Cretaceous fossil record

Abstract:Observations of the structural changes that occur during charcoalification: implications for identifying charcoal in the fossil record

Abstract:A modeling case for high atmospheric oxygen concentrations during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic

Abstract:Effects of spatial heterogeneity in moisture content on the horizontal spread of peat fires.

Abstract:Living on a flammable planet: Interdisciplinary, cross-scalar and varied cultural lessons, prospects and challenges

Abstract:The formation of charcoal reflectance and its potential use in post-fire assessments

Abstract:The interaction of fire and mankind: Introduction

Abstract:A 350-million-year legacy of fire adaptation among conifers

Abstract:An experimental assessment of the ignition of forest fuels by the thermal pulse generated by the cretaceous–palaeogene impact at chicxulub

Abstract:Area–volume relationships for fossil charcoal and their relevance for fire history reconstruction

Abstract:Charcoal reflectance reveals early holocene boreal deciduous forests burned at high intensities.

Abstract:Determinants of flammability in savanna grass species

Abstract:Accuracy and consistency of grass pollen identification by human analysts using electron micrographs of surface ornamentation.

Abstract:Charcoal morphometry for paleoecological analysis: the effects of fuel type and transportation on morphological parameters.

Abstract:Charring temperatures are driven by the fuel types burned in a peatland wildfire

Abstract:Latest Permian chars may derive from wildfires, not coal combustion

Abstract:Smouldering fire signatures in peat and their implications for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions

Abstract:Novel application of confocal laser scanning microscopy and 3D volume rendering toward improving the resolution of the fossil record of charcoal.

Abstract:Study of the competing chemical reactions in the initiation and spread of smouldering combustion in peat

Abstract:Fire‐adapted traits of Pinus arose in the fiery Cretaceous

Chapters

Abstract:Infrared Image Analysis as a Tool for Studying the Horizontal Smoldering Propagation of Laboratory Peat Fires

Conferences

Publications by year

In Press

Abstract:Holocene fire history: can evidence of peat burning be found in the palaeo-archive?

2022

2021

Abstract:Decreased soil carbon in a warming world: Degraded pyrogenic carbon during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming

Abstract:Shade alters the growth and architecture of tropical grasses by reducing root biomass

Abstract:The rise of angiosperms strengthened fire feedbacks and improved the regulation of atmospheric oxygen

2020

Abstract:Charcoal reflectance: a quantitative approach to understanding the impact of fire on an ecosystem

Abstract:Pine species that support crown fire regimes have lower leaf-level terpene contents than those native to surface fire regimes

Abstract:Some semifusinite in coal may form during diagenesis, not wildfires

Abstract:Volumetric measurement of fossil charcoal: Principles, applications and potential

2019

Abstract:A novel approach for predicting the probability of ignition of palaeofires using fossil leaf assemblages

Abstract:
The rise of angiosperms strengthened fire feedbacks and improved the regulation of atmospheric oxygen

Abstract:
Pine species that support crown fire regimes have lower leaf-level terpene contents than those native to surface fire regimes

Abstract:
Changes to Cretaceous surface fire behaviour influenced the spread of the early angiosperms

Abstract:
A 350-million-year legacy of fire adaptation among conifers

Abstract:
Determinants of flammability in savanna grass species

Abstract:
Holocene fire history: can evidence of peat burning be found in the palaeo-archive?

Abstract:
Decreased soil carbon in a warming world: Degraded pyrogenic carbon during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming

Abstract:
Shade alters the growth and architecture of tropical grasses by reducing root biomass

Abstract:
The rise of angiosperms strengthened fire feedbacks and improved the regulation of atmospheric oxygen

Abstract:
Pine species that support crown fire regimes have lower leaf-level terpene contents than those native to surface fire regimes

Abstract:
Some semifusinite in coal may form during diagenesis, not wildfires

Abstract:
Volumetric measurement of fossil charcoal: Principles, applications and potential

Abstract:
A novel approach for predicting the probability of ignition of palaeofires using fossil leaf assemblages

Abstract:
Tropical forest and peatland conservation in Indonesia: Challenges and directions

Abstract:
A comparison of the US National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) with recorded fire occurrence and final fire size

Abstract:
Does fuel type influence the amount of charcoal produced in wildfires? Implications for the fossil record

Abstract:
Fire as a Removal Mechanism of Pyrogenic Carbon from the Environment: Effects of Fire and Pyrogenic Carbon Characteristics

Abstract:
Fossil charcoals from the Lower Jurassic challenge assumptions about charcoal morphology and identification

Abstract:
Grass Species Flammability, Not Biomass, Drives Changes in Fire Behavior at Tropical Forest-Savanna Transitions

Abstract:
Quantitative charcoal reflectance measurements better link to regrowth potential than ground-based fire-severity assessments following a recent heathland wildfire at Carn Brea, Cornwall, UK

Abstract:
What can charcoal reflectance tell us about energy release in wildfires and the properties of pyrogenic carbon?

Abstract:
Changes to Cretaceous surface fire behaviour influenced the spread of the early angiosperms

Abstract:
Fine-scale distribution of moisture in the surface of a degraded blanket bog and its effects on the potential spread of smouldering fire

Abstract:
Fire biases the production of charred flowers: Implications for the Cretaceous fossil record

Abstract:
Observations of the structural changes that occur during charcoalification: implications for identifying charcoal in the fossil record

Abstract:
A modeling case for high atmospheric oxygen concentrations during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic

Abstract:
Effects of spatial heterogeneity in moisture content on the horizontal spread of peat fires.

Abstract:
Living on a flammable planet: Interdisciplinary, cross-scalar and varied cultural lessons, prospects and challenges

Abstract:
The formation of charcoal reflectance and its potential use in post-fire assessments

Abstract:
The interaction of fire and mankind: Introduction

Abstract:
A 350-million-year legacy of fire adaptation among conifers

Abstract:
An experimental assessment of the ignition of forest fuels by the thermal pulse generated by the cretaceous–palaeogene impact at chicxulub

Abstract:
Area–volume relationships for fossil charcoal and their relevance for fire history reconstruction

Abstract:
Charcoal reflectance reveals early holocene boreal deciduous forests burned at high intensities.

Abstract:
Determinants of flammability in savanna grass species

Abstract:
Accuracy and consistency of grass pollen identification by human analysts using electron micrographs of surface ornamentation.

Abstract:
Charcoal morphometry for paleoecological analysis: the effects of fuel type and transportation on morphological parameters.

Abstract:
Charring temperatures are driven by the fuel types burned in a peatland wildfire

Abstract:
Latest Permian chars may derive from wildfires, not coal combustion

Abstract:
Smouldering fire signatures in peat and their implications for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions

Abstract:
Novel application of confocal laser scanning microscopy and 3D volume rendering toward improving the resolution of the fossil record of charcoal.

Abstract:
Study of the competing chemical reactions in the initiation and spread of smouldering combustion in peat

Abstract:
Fire‐adapted traits of Pinus arose in the fiery Cretaceous

Abstract:
Infrared Image Analysis as a Tool for Studying the Horizontal Smoldering Propagation of Laboratory Peat Fires

Abstract:
Holocene fire history: can evidence of peat burning be found in the palaeo-archive?

Abstract:
Decreased soil carbon in a warming world: Degraded pyrogenic carbon during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming

Abstract:
Shade alters the growth and architecture of tropical grasses by reducing root biomass

Abstract:
The rise of angiosperms strengthened fire feedbacks and improved the regulation of atmospheric oxygen

Abstract:
Charcoal reflectance: a quantitative approach to understanding the impact of fire on an ecosystem

Abstract:
Pine species that support crown fire regimes have lower leaf-level terpene contents than those native to surface fire regimes

Abstract:
Some semifusinite in coal may form during diagenesis, not wildfires

Abstract:
Volumetric measurement of fossil charcoal: Principles, applications and potential

Abstract:
A novel approach for predicting the probability of ignition of palaeofires using fossil leaf assemblages

Abstract:
Fire & Global Change During Key Intervals of the Late Triassic & Early Jurassic with a Focus on the Central Polish Basin

Abstract:
Tropical forest and peatland conservation in Indonesia: Challenges and directions

Abstract:
A comparison of the US National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) with recorded fire occurrence and final fire size

Abstract:
Does fuel type influence the amount of charcoal produced in wildfires? Implications for the fossil record

Abstract:
Fire as a Removal Mechanism of Pyrogenic Carbon from the Environment: Effects of Fire and Pyrogenic Carbon Characteristics

Abstract:
Fossil charcoals from the Lower Jurassic challenge assumptions about charcoal morphology and identification

Abstract:
Grass Species Flammability, Not Biomass, Drives Changes in Fire Behavior at Tropical Forest-Savanna Transitions

Abstract:
Quantitative charcoal reflectance measurements better link to regrowth potential than ground-based fire-severity assessments following a recent heathland wildfire at Carn Brea, Cornwall, UK

Abstract:
What can charcoal reflectance tell us about energy release in wildfires and the properties of pyrogenic carbon?

Abstract:
Changes to Cretaceous surface fire behaviour influenced the spread of the early angiosperms

Abstract:
Fine-scale distribution of moisture in the surface of a degraded blanket bog and its effects on the potential spread of smouldering fire

Abstract:
Fire biases the production of charred flowers: Implications for the Cretaceous fossil record

Abstract:
Observations of the structural changes that occur during charcoalification: implications for identifying charcoal in the fossil record

Abstract:
A modeling case for high atmospheric oxygen concentrations during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic

Abstract:
Effects of spatial heterogeneity in moisture content on the horizontal spread of peat fires.

Abstract:
Living on a flammable planet: Interdisciplinary, cross-scalar and varied cultural lessons, prospects and challenges

Abstract:
The formation of charcoal reflectance and its potential use in post-fire assessments

Abstract:
The interaction of fire and mankind: Introduction

Abstract:
A 350-million-year legacy of fire adaptation among conifers

Abstract:
An experimental assessment of the ignition of forest fuels by the thermal pulse generated by the cretaceous–palaeogene impact at chicxulub

Abstract:
Area–volume relationships for fossil charcoal and their relevance for fire history reconstruction

Abstract:
Charcoal reflectance reveals early holocene boreal deciduous forests burned at high intensities.

Abstract:
Determinants of flammability in savanna grass species

Abstract:
Infrared Image Analysis as a Tool for Studying the Horizontal Smoldering Propagation of Laboratory Peat Fires

Abstract:
Accuracy and consistency of grass pollen identification by human analysts using electron micrographs of surface ornamentation.

Abstract:
Charcoal morphometry for paleoecological analysis: the effects of fuel type and transportation on morphological parameters.

Abstract:
Charring temperatures are driven by the fuel types burned in a peatland wildfire