Dr. Terri Lacourse
Research
My forest-related research focusses on the development and dynamics of temperate forest in coastal British Columbia over the past 15,000 years i.e., since the last glaciation. This research concerns temporal and spatial patterns in the distribution of plant populations and communities, and the processes responsible for those patterns. I conduct research that 1) reconstructs past changes in forest composition and fire frequency, using techniques such as high-resolution pollen and charcoal analyses of radiocarbon-dated lake sediments, and 2) identifies the ecological (e.g., life history) and environmental (e.g., climate change) factors that drive changes in species abundance, species interactions, community distributions, and disturbance regimes on long ecological timescales.
Courses
- BIOL 330: Study Design and Data Analysis
- BIOL 457: Paleoecology & Environmental Change
Selected Publications
| Year | Journal title | Title | Authors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Quaternary Science Reviews | Regional variability in peatland burning at mid-to high-latitudes during the Holocene | Sims T.G., Swindles G.T., Morris P.J., Baird A.J., Gallego-Sala A.V., Wang Y., Blaauw M., Camill P., Garneau M... et al |
| 2023 | Ecosphere | Holocene fire regimes, fire-related plant functional types, and climate in south-coastal British Columbia forests | Giuliano C, and Lacourse T. |
| 2024 | Fire Ecology | Assessing changes in global fire regimes. | Sayedi S.S., et al. (+106 co-authors including Lacourse T.) |
| 2022 | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution | Climate and species traits drive changes in Holocene forest composition along an elevation gradient in Pacific Canada | Lacourse T., and Adeleye M.A. |
| 2020 | Earth-Science Reviews | Pollen-based climate reconstruction techniques for late Quaternary studies | Chevaliera M., Davis B.A.S., Heiri O., Seppa H., Chase B.M., Gajewski K., Lacourse T., Telford R.J., Finsinger W., Guiot J., Kühl N., Maezumi S.Y., Tipton J.R., Carter V.A., Brussel T., Phelps L.N., Dawson A., Zanon M., Vallé F., Nolan C., Mauri A., de Vernal A., Izumi K., Holmström L., Marsicek J., Goring S., Sommer P.S., Chaput M., and Kupriyanov D. |
| 2020 | Vegetation History and Archaeobotany | Late Pleistocene vegetation and sedimentary charcoal at Kilgii Gwaay archaeological site in coastal British Columbia, Canada, with possible proxy evidence for human presence by 13,000 cal BP | Mathewes R.W., Lacourse T., Helmer E.F., Howarth C.R., and Fedje D.W. |
| 2021 | Nature Climate Change | Expert assessment of future vulnerability of the global peatland carbon sink | Loisel, J., Gallego-Sala, A.V., Amesbury, M.J., Magnan, G., Anshari, G., Beilman, D.W., Benavides, J.C., Blewett, J., Camill, P., Charman, D.J., Chawchai, S., Hedgpeth, A., Kleinen, T., Korhola, A., Large, D., Mansilla, C.A., Müller, J., van Bellen, S., West, J.B., Yu, Z., Bubier, J.L., Garneau, M., Moore, T., Sannel, A.B.K., Page, S., Valiranta, M., Bechtold, M., Brovkin, V., Cole, L.E.S., Chanton, J.P., Christensen, T.R., Davies, M.A., De Vleeschouwer, F., Finkelstein, S.A., Frolking, S., Galka, M., Gandois, L., Girkin, N., Harris, L.I., Heinemeyer, A., Hoyt, A.M., Jones, M.C., Joos, F., Juutinen, S., Kaiser, K., Lacourse, T., Lamentowicz, M., Larmola, T., Leifeld, J., Lohila, A., Milner, A.M., Minkkinen, K., Moss, P., Naafs, B.D.A., Nichols, J., O’Donnell, J., Payne, R., Philben, M., Piilo, S., Quillet, A., Ratnayake, A.S., Roland, T.P., Sjogersten, S., Sonnentag, O... et al |
| 2019 | The Holocene | Peatland formation, succession and carbon accumulation at a mid-elevation poor fen in Pacific Canada | Lacourse T, Adeleye MA, Stewart JR |
| 2019 | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | Widespread global peatland establishment and persistence over the last 130,000 years | Treat CC, Kleinen T, Broothaerts N, Dalton AS, Dommain R, Douglas TA, Drexler JZ, Finkelstein SA, Grosse G, Hope G, Hutchings J, Jones MC, Kuhry P, Lacourse T, Lähteenoja O, Loisel J, Notebaert B, Payne RJ, Peteet DM, Sannel ABK, Stelling JM, Strauss J, Swindles GT, Talbot J, Tarnocai C, Verstraeten G, Williams CJ, Xia Z, Yu Z, Väliranta M, Hattestrand M, Alexanderson H, Brovkin V |
| 2019 | Quaternary Research | Postglacial wetland succession, carbon accumulation and forest dynamics on the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada | Lacourse T, Beer KW, Craig KB, and Canil, D |
| 2018 | Nature Climate Change | Latitudinal limits to the predicted increase of the peatland carbon sink with warming | Gallego-Sala AV, Charman DJ, Brewer S. Page SE, Prentice IC, Friedlingstein P, Moreton S, Amesbury MJ, Beilman DW, Björck S, Blyakharchuk T, Bochicchio C, Booth RK, Bunbury J, Camill P, Carless D, Chimmer RA, Clifford M, Cressey E, Courtney-Mustaphi C, de Vleeschouwer F, de Jon R, Fialkiawicz-Koziel B, Finkelstein SA, Garneau M, Githumbi E, Hribjlan J, Holmquist J, Hughes PDM, Jones C, Jones MC, Karofeld E, Klein ES, Kokfelt U, Korhola A, Lacourse T, and 39 others |
| 2017 | Agricultural and Forest Meteorology | An assessment of Pinus contorta seed production in British Columbia: Geographic variation and dynamically-downscaled climate correlates from the Canadian Regional Climate Model | Lew A, P von Aderkas, A Berland, CL Curry, T Lacourse, B Tencer, and A Weaver |
| 2015 | The Holocene | A multi-proxy peat study of Holocene vegetation history, bog development and carbon accumulation on northern Vancouver Island, Pacific coast of Canada | Lacourse T and Davies MA |
| 2013 | Quaternary Research | Holocene vegetation history and fire regimes of Pseudotsuga menziesii forests in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, southwestern British Columbia, Canada | Lucas JD and Lacourse T |
| 2013 | Forest Ecology and Management | Adaptive variation in growth, phenology, cold tolerance and nitrogen fixation of red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) | Porter RB, Lacourse T, Hawkins BJ and Yanchuk M |
| 2012 | Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology | Increasing taxonomic resolution in pollen identification: Sample size, spatial sampling bias and implications for palaeoecology | Lacourse T and May L |
| 2012 | Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology | Morphological differentiation of Alnus (alder) pollen from western North America | May L and Lacourse T |
| 2012 | Quaternary Research | A 14,000 year vegetation history of a hypermaritime island on the outer Pacific coast of Canada based on fossil pollen, spores and conifer stomata. | Lacourse T, Delepine JM, Hoffman EH and Mathewes RW |
| 2009 | Ecology | Environmental change controls postglacial forest dynamics through interspecific differences in life-history traits. | Lacourse T |
| 2016 | Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology | Identification of conifer stomata in pollen samples from western North America. | Lacourse T, Beer KW and Hoffman EH |