PREHISTORIC ANTHROPOGENIC WILDLAND BURNING BY HUNTER-GATHERER SOCIETIES IN THE TEMPERATE REGIONS - A NET SOURCE, SINK, OR NEUTRAL TO THE GLOBAL CARBON BUDGET

There is a need for more intensive multi-disciplinary study of prehist oric ''hunter-gatherer'' burning patterns in temperate regions. Califo rnia is presented as a case study to demonstrate how powerful, effecti ve, and widely employed fire was in the native repertoire for directly manipulating the wildland environment. It is highly likely that the m agnitude of burning in other temperate regions as well as in Californi a, has been underestimated by anthropologists. A methodological approa ch to better define the broad outlines of anthropogenic wildland burni ng patterns in various regions of North America, at the point of Euro- American contact, is put forth. Regional studies which revaluate: the extent to which Native American tribes were an important ecological fo rce in shaping the biotic and physical environment, will have profound implications for contemporary environmental policies to reduce the th reat of global warming. It is suggested that physical, social, and bio logical scientists work together to examine global warming in a broade r historical context to include temperate wildland burning by prehisto ric peoples and explore its contribution as a net source, sink, or neu tral Lo the global carbon budget.