Study shows Native Americans’ forest burning increased fire-tolerant trees such as oaks

A debate continues among scientists over whether tree composition in forests in eastern North American historically have been influenced more by climate or by cultural burning, which is the intentional and controlled use of fire by Indigenous people to manage their environment.
Now, a new study of southern New England forests by a team including a researcher from Penn State lends credence to the cultural burning hypothesis, suggesting that fire-tolerant vegetation – oak, hickory and pine – were significantly more abundant near Indigenous settlements over the last 5,000 years.

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