Charcoal stored in preserved guano gives helps reconstruct regional fire histories

With wildfires growing more frequent and more intense in many parts of the world, scientists are looking to the past to better understand where and when fires have burned. Lakes and wetlands, which capture airborne charcoal particles when they fall from the atmosphere, have provided most records of ancient fires, or paleofires. Now, researchers have found a new tool to help reconstruct fire history: bat poop.