Climate change and wildfires in Russia

The effect of climate change on the distribution, intensity, and transforming role of wild fires is considered. A general overview of the current wild fire regimes (WRs) and impacts on forest ecosystems and environment is provided. One distinctive feature of WRs is the increasing frequency of disastrous wild fires. The application of various remote sensing instruments has shown that the average vegetation wild fire area in Russia for 1998–2010 accounted for 8.2 ± 0.8 × 10⁶ ha, with about two-thirds of wildfires occurring on forest lands and half on the forested lands. The average annual fire carbon balance during the above period was 121 ± 28 Tg C yr^?1, including 92 ± 18 Tg C yr^?1 emitted from the forested land. The forecasts based on the General Circulation Models suggest the dramatic acceleration of fire regimes by the end of the 21st century. Taking into account the increase in the dryness of the climate and the thawing of permafrost, this will likely lead to a dramatic loss of forested area and the impoverishment of the forest cover over a major part of the forest zone. A transition to adaptive forestry would allow a substantial decrease of the expected losses. This paper takes a brief look at the general principals of adapting forest fire protection system to climate change, which is considered an integral part of the transition to sustainable forest management in Russia.     

混合效应模型在林火发生预测中的适用性

林火是森林生态系统的重要影响因子,建立科学准确的林火预测预报模型对林火管理工作至关重要。本研究以不同气象因子为主要预测变量,基于Logistic回归和广义线性混合效应模型建立福建省林火发生预测模型,通过对比Logistic基础模型和广义线性混合效应模型的拟合度和预测精度,研究混合效应模型在林火预报中的适用性。结果表明: Logistic基础模型的受试者工作特征曲线下面积(AUC)值为0.664,验证准确率为60.4%。添加随机效应后,模型的拟合和检验精度均获得了提升。其中,考虑行政区划和海拔差异效应的两水平混合效应模型的表现最优,其AUC值和验证准确率分别比基础模型提升0.057和6.0%。用此混合效应模型对福建省各地区的林火发生概率进行预测的结果表明,福建省西北部和南部为林火中高发区域,西南部和东部为林火低发区域,与实际观测的火点分布一致。混合效应模型在数据拟合和林火发生预测方面均优于Logistic基础模型,可作为林火预测和管理的重要工具。     

Modern forest entomology: Directions of research, problems, and prospects

Based on analysis of publications, the principal directions of research carried out in the field of forest entomology in Russia and abroad are considered. Most of the foreign papers are published by entomologists from the USA (27%), Sweden (14%), Canada (12%), and Finland (8%), many studies are carried out by international research teams. In all, the publications considered cover over 90 species of forest insects (excluding predators and parasites) that may act as more or less important forest pests. Most of the papers are devoted to species of great economic significance. Most effort in entomological studies carried out in Russia is focused on the role of phytophagous insects in forest ecosystems, their population dynamics and the factors of its regulation, and ecology of selected pest species. In the studies carried out abroad, much more attention is paid to physiology of insects, the problems of communication, looking for pheromones, kairomones, and antifeedants to be used as new agents of plant protection and improvement of methods of their application, and also to interactions between phytophages and their host plants. The problems hindering development of forest entomology in Russia are considered; most of them result from lack of steady financial support of this field of research from the government.     

Fire history data as reference information in ecological restoration

Fire plays a fundamental role in the ecology of Araucaria-Nothofagus forests. This paper highlights the utility of dendrochronological techniques in providing the historical reference conditions to guide ecological restoration. In the Araucarian region human activity has dramatically changed the fire frequency in the Araucaria-Nothofagus forest ecosystems. Although further critical evaluation is required, our preliminary data show that, compared with the Native American period (pre-1883), there was widespread burning of forests associated with the subsequent Euro-Chilean settlement phase. Vast areas of subalpine forest were deliberately burned to increase pasture for cattle ranching. This process is documented by a major increase in the frequency of fires in the forested Araucaria-Nothofagus landscape during the 20th century. Prior to the 1880s the fire regime was characterized by infrequent catastrophic fires with long intervening periods of stability. The immediate reduction of human-induced fire is necessary to move these altered forest ecosystems towards the range of natural structural conditions and reestablish the historical variability of this ecological process. A better understanding of the fire ecology seems crucial in developing strategies for the restoration and management of these fire-dependent forest ecosystems.     

Model approaches to description of critical phenomena in forest ecosystems

Methodological bases of optimization modeling approach are considered in regard to describing critical phenomena in forest ecosystems. Models of insects’ outbreaks, forest successions, forest fires as second order phase transitions are proposed. It is shown that there is fair correlation between model calculations and observations data.     

Spatially explicit fire-climate history of the boreal forest-tundra (Eastern Canada) over the last 2000 years

Across the boreal forest, fire is the main disturbance factor and driver of ecosystem changes. In this study, we reconstructed a long-term, spatially explicit fire history of a forest-tundra region in northeastern Canada. We hypothesized that current occupation of similar topographic and edaphic sites by tundra and forest was the consequence of cumulative regression with time of forest cover due to compounding fire and climate disturbances. All fires were mapped and dated per 100 year intervals over the last 2,000 years using several fire dating techniques. Past fire occurrences and post-fire regeneration at the northern forest limit indicate 70% reduction of forest cover since 1800 yr BP and nearly complete cessation of forest regeneration since 900 yr BP. Regression of forest cover was particularly important between 1500s-1700s and possibly since 900 yr BP. Although fire frequency was very low over the last 100 years, each fire event was followed by drastic removal of spruce cover. Contrary to widespread belief of northward boreal forest expansion due to recent warming, lack of post-fire recovery during the last centuries, in comparison with active tree regeneration more than 1,000 years ago, indicates that the current climate does not favour such expansion.     

Forests as a national treasure of Russia

This paper analyzes the future of the Russian forest. Its preservation determines, to a large extent, the ethical, economic, and ecological environment of our country. The authors support the idea of a forest being not only a storage place for timber, but a specific state property that, besides its value as raw material, has an enormous ecological and social weight, since it represents a living environment for certain peoples of Russia. The ineffectiveness of the existing forest legislation in Russia was proved through the examples of forest fires. Concrete legislative and administrative solutions are proposed.     

The effect of climate anomalies and human ignition factor on wildfires in Russian boreal forests

Over the last few years anomalies in temperature and precipitation in northern Russia have been regarded as manifestations of climate change. During the same period exceptional forest fire seasons have been reported, prompting many authors to suggest that these in turn are due to climate change. In this paper, we examine the number and areal extent of forest fires across boreal Russia for the period 2002-2005 within two forest categories: 'intact forests' and 'non-intact forests'. Results show a far lower density of fire events in intact forests (5-14 times less) and that those events tend to be in the first 10 km buffer zone inside intact forest areas. Results also show that, during exceptional climatic years (2002 and 2003), fire event density is twice that found during normal years (2004 and 2005) and average areal extent of fire events (burned area) in intact forests is 2.5 times larger than normal. These results suggest that a majority of the fire events in boreal Russia are of human origin and a maximum of one-third of their impact (areal extension) can be attributed to climate anomalies alone, the rest being due to the combined effect of human disturbances and climate anomalies.     

黑龙江省温带森林火灾碳排放的计量估算

森林火灾干扰作为森林生态系统重要的干扰因子,剧烈地改变着森林生态系统的结构、功能、格局与过程,对区域乃至全球的碳循环与碳平衡产生重要影响。随着全球气候变暖,森林火灾干扰的频率和强度进一步加剧,其排放的含碳气体对大气中温室气体浓度的贡献率更大,进而加快气候变暖的速率。科学有效地对森林火灾碳排放及含碳气体排放量进行计量估算,对了解区域乃至全球的碳循环及碳平衡具有重要的理论价值和实践意义。根据黑龙江省温带森林1953—2012年火灾统计资料和森林调查数据,结合地理信息系统GIS技术,通过野外火烧迹地调查以及实验室的控制环境实验来确定森林火灾碳排放计量中的各种参数,在林分水平上,利用排放因子的方法,估算了黑龙江省温带森林60年间火灾碳排放量和含碳气体排放量。结果表明:黑龙江省温带森林60年间火灾碳排放量为5.88×107t,年均排放量为9.80×105t,约占全国年均森林火灾碳排放量的8.66%;含碳气体CO2、CO、CH4和非甲烷烃(nonmethane hydrocarbons,NMHC)的排放量分别为1.89×108、1.06×107、6.33×105和4.43×105t,含碳气体CO2、CO、CH4和NMHC的年均排放量分别为3.15×106、1.77×105、1.05×104和7.38×103t,分别占全国年均森林火灾各含碳气体排放量的7.74%、6.52%、9.42%和6.53%。研究发现针阔混交林型的森林火灾面积占总过火林地面积的57.54%,由于其燃烧效率较低,在森林火灾中的碳排放量仅占排放总量的38.57%;尤其是针阔混交林森林火灾面积占总过火林地面积的20.71%,而碳排放量仅占总排放量的9.67%;且CO2的排放因子较低,其CO2排放量仅占总排放量的8.95%。同时研究表明,黑龙江省温带森林年均的碳排放对该区域的碳循环与碳平衡产生重要影响,并针对研究结果提出了应对气候变化的森林经营可持续管理策略,亦提出了科学的林火管理策略及其合理化的林火管理路径。     

Fire history data as reference information in ecological restoration

Fire plays a fundamental role in the ecology of Araucaria-Nothofagus forests. This paper highlights the utility of dendrochronological techniques in providing the historical reference conditions to guide ecological restoration. In the Araucarian region human activity has dramatically changed the fire frequency in the Araucaria-Nothofagus forest ecosystems. Although further critical evaluation is required, our preliminary data show that, compared with the Native American period (pre-1883), there was widespread burning of forests associated with the subsequent Euro-Chilean settlement phase. Vast areas of subalpine forest were deliberately burned to increase pasture for cattle ranching. This process is documented by a major increase in the frequency of fires in the forested Araucaria-Nothofagus landscape during the 20th century. Prior to the 1880s the fire regime was characterized by infrequent catastrophic fires with long intervening periods of stability. The immediate reduction of human-induced fire is necessary to move these altered forest ecosystems towards the range of natural structural conditions and reestablish the historical variability of this ecological process. A better understanding of the fire ecology seems crucial in developing strategies for the restoration and management of these fire-dependent forest ecosystems.     

Post-fire functioning of Eastern Cisbaikalian forest ecosystems

The post-fire dynamics of Eastern Cisbaikalian forest ecosystems is analyzed. Forest productivity is shown to be reduced by litter and humus ground fires. The study characterizes understory and soil changes after fires of various severities and remoteness.     

Macrocharcoal-Based Chronosequences Reveal Shifting Dominance of Conifer Boreal Forests Under Changing Fire Regime

Balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and black spruce (Picea mariana) forests are the main conifer forest types in the North American boreal zone. The coexistence of the two species as well as their respective canopy dominance in distinct stands raises questions about the long-term evolution from one forest type to the other in relation to environmental factors including climate and stand disturbance. We tested the hypothesis that repetitive fire events promote the succession of balsam fir forest to black spruce forest and vice versa. Postfire chronosequences of one black spruce (BSP) and one balsam fir (BFI) sites were reconstructed based on the botanical composition and ¹⁴C-dated soil macrocharcoals. The results support the hypothesis of a successional dynamics. The BSP site has been affected by fires for the last 7600 years, whereas the BFI site, after having been impacted by several fires during the first half of the Holocene, evolved in a fire-free environment for the last 4400 years. Periods of fire activity facilitated the dominance of black spruce forests. The cessation of fires around 4400 cal. years BP on BFI site marks the beginning of the transition from black spruce to balsam fir stands. This succession is a long process, due to the ability of black spruce to regenerate by layering in the absence of fire. The resulting balsam fir stands are ancient and precarious ecosystems, since fire generally leads to the return of black spruce. The increase in balsam fir to the detriment of black spruce in boreal forests is a response to a decrease in fire frequency.     

Priorities of satellite monitoring of boreal ecosystems

The processes of global changes of climate and biosphere interplay and manifest themselves at the most in the boreal zone of the planet, in particular in Eurasia. Satellite methods of remote observation of the Earth permit a regular monitoring of key characteristics of the state and the time course of changes of terrestrial geosystems necessary to estimate, to understand the mechanism of, and to forecast future climatic and biospheric changes. In the paper, the priority trends of satellite monitoring of terrestrial ecosystems are analyzed and its potential is estimated, with the available satellite instruments and methods of data analysis taken into account. The system developed in Russia for monitoring the state and the time course of changes of terrestrial ecosystems makes it possible to obtain estimates of many important characteristics that reflect the structure of the vegetable cover, scales of damage of vegetation by fires and forest felling, and regimes of use of agricultural lands in North Eurasia or the boreal zone of the planet.     

Significant and persistent impact of timber harvesting on soil microbial communities in Northern coniferous forests

Forest ecosystems have integral roles in climate stability, biodiversity and economic development. Soil stewardship is essential for sustainable forest management. Organic matter (OM) removal and soil compaction are key disturbances associated with forest harvesting, but their impacts on forest ecosystems are not well understood. Because microbiological processes regulate soil ecology and biogeochemistry, microbial community structure might serve as indicator of forest ecosystem status, revealing changes in nutrient and energy flow patterns before they have irreversible effects on long-term soil productivity. We applied massively parallel pyrosequencing of over 4.6 million ribosomal marker sequences to assess the impact of OM removal and soil compaction on bacterial and fungal communities in a field experiment replicated at six forest sites in British Columbia, Canada. More than a decade after harvesting, diversity and structure of soil bacterial and fungal communities remained significantly altered by harvesting disturbances, with individual taxonomic groups responding differentially to varied levels of the disturbances. Plant symbionts, like ectomycorrhizal fungi, and saprobic taxa, such as ascomycetes and actinomycetes, were among the most sensitive to harvesting disturbances. Given their significant ecological roles in forest development, the fate of these taxa might be critical for sustainability of forest ecosystems. Although abundant bacterial populations were ubiquitous, abundant fungal populations often revealed a patchy distribution, consistent with their higher sensitivity to the examined soil disturbances. These results establish a comprehensive inventory of bacterial and fungal community composition in northern coniferous forests and demonstrate the long-term response of their structure to key disturbances associated with forest harvesting.     

Return of Fire as a Restoration Tool: Long‐Term Effects of Burn Severity on Habitat Use by Mexican Fox Squirrels

After decades of suppression, fire is returning to forests of the western United States through wildfires and prescribed burns. These fires may aid restoration of vegetation structure and processes, which could improve conditions for wildlife species and reduce severe wildfire risk. Understanding response of wildlife species to fires is essential to forest restoration because contemporary fires may not have the same effects as historical fires. Recent fires in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona provided opportunity to investigate long‐term effects of burn severity on habitat selection of a native wildlife species. We surveyed burned forest for squirrel feeding sign and related vegetation characteristics to frequency of feeding sign occurrence. We used radio‐telemetry within fire‐influenced forest to determine home ranges of Mexican fox squirrels, Sciurus nayaritensis chiricahuae, and compared vegetation characteristics within home ranges to random areas available to squirrels throughout burned conifer forest. Squirrels fed in forest with open understory and closed canopy cover. Vegetation within home ranges was characterized by lower understory density, consistent with the effects of low‐severity fire, and larger trees than random locations. Our results suggest that return of low‐severity fire can help restore habitat for Mexican fox squirrels and other native wildlife species with similar habitat affiliations in forests with a historical regime of frequent, low‐severity fire. Our study contributes to an understanding of the role and impact of fire in forest ecosystems and the implications for forest restoration as fire returns to the region.     

Fire-Regime Disruption and Pine-Oak Forest Structure in the Sierra Madre Occidental, Durango, Mexico

Fire is a common but poorly understood disturbance in the forested ecosystems of the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico. In this study, fire history, forest structure (density, species composition, regeneration, forest floor fuels, herbaceous cover, and age of pines), and the dendrochronological tree-ring record were measured at two unharvested 70-ha pine-oak sites near Ojito de Camellones, Durango, Mexico. Study sites were matched in slope, aspect, elevation, slope position, and plant composition, but they differed in fire history since 1945 and in forest structure. The long-term mean fire intervals (MFI) for all fires at both sites up to 1945 were similar—4.0 years at Site 1 (1744–1945) and 4.1 years at Site 2 (1815–1945)—but Site 1 burned only three times at the site margins since 1945 while Site 2 had 9 fires that scarred two or more sample trees and 15 total fires since 1945. Density measurements and age and diameter distributions showed that Site 1 was dominated by numerous, younger, smaller trees (mean total basal area of 23.4 m²/ha and 2730 trees/ha), while Site 2 had fewer, older, larger trees (basal area of 37.2 m²/ha, 647 trees/ha). Large, rotten fuel loading and duff depth were also greater at Site 1. Because regeneration averaged 6200 stems/ha at Site 1 and 8730 stems/ha at Site 2 (no significant difference), forest density at Site 2 was not limited by regeneration capability. The distributions of overstory diameter and pine age at both sites indicate that tree establishment occurred in pulses, with the largest cohort of trees establishing at Site 1 following the 1945 fire. The dense regeneration and heavy fuel accumulation at Site 1 are likely to support a switch from the former low-intensity fire regime to a high-intensity, stand-replacing fire across the site when the next suitable combination of ignition and weather occurs. Baseline quantitative information on fire frequency and ecological effects is essential to guide conservation or restoration of Madrean forests and may prove valuable for restoration of related fire-dependent ecosystems that have experienced extended fire exclusion elsewhere in North America.     

Effects of forest fires on forest ecosystems in eastern coastal areas of Korea and an overview of restoration projects

Recent large fires have highlighted the importance of understanding post-fire processes in forest ecosystems, in order to implement ecologically sound post-fire forest restoration practices. Restoration principles should be based on a thorough understanding and appropriate integration of the ecological, social, and economic factors associated with forest ecosystems. In Korea, forest fires mainly affect pine forests, which provide habitats for pine mushrooms, a major source of income for local residents. Curculionid beetles can easily attack fire-damaged trees because of the trees’ weakened defense mechanisms. On the other hand, fire accelerates the decomposition of organic matter and nutrient release, thereby improving forest productivity. Natural restoration after large fires depends on regeneration (e.g., from seeds and sprouts) of the remaining trees that have sustained less damage, until secondary forests are established. However, severely burned areas may require rapid artificial regeneration depending on the specific climatic (e.g., summer rainy season), geographic (e.g., shallow surface soil and land erosion), and economic (e.g., local mushroom harvesting) objectives. A restoration plan should include constructing fuel breaks to reduce the fire risk if the area is replanted mainly with pine species.     

Forests and swamps of Siberia in the global carbon cycle

Results of measurements and calculations of carbon budget parameters of forests and swamps of Siberia are reported. The zonal variability of reserves (and an increment in reserves) of carbon in forest and swamp ecosystems is characterized, carbon dioxide fluxes are measured directly by means of microeddy pulsations, and an uncertainty brought into the calculation of carbon budget parameters by forest fires is estimated.     

Climatic change and fire potential in South-Central British Columbia, Canada

The incidence and severity of forest fires are linked to the interaction between climate, fuel and topography. Increased warming and drying in the future is expected to have a significant impact on the risk of forest fire occurrence. An increase in fire risk is linked to the synchronous relationship between climate and fuel moisture conditions. A warmer, drier climate will lead to drier forest fuels that will in turn increase the chance of successful fire ignition and propagation. This interaction will increase the severity of fire weather, which, in turn, will increase the risk of extreme fire behaviour. A warmer climate will also extend fire season length, which will increase the likelihood of fires occurring over a greater proportion of the year. In this study of the North Okanagan area of British Columbia, Canada, the impacts of climate change of fire potential were evaluated using the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System and multiple climate scenario analysis. Utilizing this approach, a 30% increase in fire season length was modelled to occur by 2070. In addition, statistically significant increases in fire severity and fire behaviour were also modelled. Fire weather severity was predicted to increase by 95% during the summer months by 2070 while fire behaviour was predicted to shift from surface fire‐intermittent crown fire regimes to a predominantly intermittent‐full crown fire regime by 2070 onwards. An increase in fire season length, fire weather severity and fire behaviour will increase the costs of fire suppression and the risk of property and resource loss while limiting human‐use within vulnerable forest landscapes. An increase in fire weather severity and fire behaviour over a greater proportion of the season will increase the risks faced by ecosystems and biodiversity to climatic change and increase the costs and difficulty of achieving sustainable forest management.     

Long-term forest composition and its drivers in taiga forest in NW Russia

Understanding the processes behind long-term boreal forest dynamics can provide information that assists in predicting future boreal vegetation under changing environmental conditions. Here, we examine Holocene stand-scale vegetation dynamics and its drivers at the western boundary of the Russian taiga forest in NW Russia. Fossil pollen and conifer stomata records from four small hollow sites and two lake sites are used to reconstruct local vegetation dynamics during the Holocene. Variation partitioning is used to assess the relative importance of the potential drivers (temperature, forest fires and growing site wetness) to the long-term stand-scale dynamics in taiga forest. All the main tree taxa, including the boreal keystone species Picea abies (Norway spruce) and Larix sibirica (Siberian larch), have been locally present since 10,000 cal yr bp. The constant Holocene presence of L. sibirica at three small hollow sites suggests a fast postglacial immigration of the species in northern Europe. Picea was present but not dominant at all study sites until its expansion between 8,000 and 7,000 cal yr bp markedly changed the forest structure through the suppression of Betula (birch), Pinus (pine) and Larix. Our results demonstrate that in general, the Holocene forest dynamics in our study region have been driven by temperature, but during short intervals the role of local factors, especially forest fires, has been prominent. The comparison between sites reveals the importance of local factors in stand-scale dynamics in taiga forests. Therefore, the future responses of taiga forest to climate change will be predominantly modulated by the local characteristics at the site.