Larch Forests of Middle Siberia: Long-Term Trends in Fire Return Intervals

Viacheslav I Kharuk; Mariya L Dvinskaya; Ilya A Petrov; Sergei T Im; Kenneth J Ranson

doi:10.1007/s10113-016-0964-9

Larch Forests of Middle Siberia: Long-Term Trends in Fire Return Intervals

Reg Environ Change. 2016 Dec;16(8):2389-2397. doi: 10.1007/s10113-016-0964-9. Epub 2016 Apr 7.

Authors

Viacheslav I Kharuk^{1

2}, Mariya L Dvinskaya¹, Ilya A Petrov¹, Sergei T Im^{1

2

3}, Kenneth J Ranson⁴

Affiliations

¹ V. N. Sukachev Institute of Forest, Krasnoyarsk, 660036 Russia.
² Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, 660041 Russia.
³ Siberian State Aerospace University, Krasnoyarsk, 660014 Russia.
⁴ NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.

Abstract

Fire history within the northern larch forests of Central Siberia was studied (65+°N). Fires within this area are predominantly caused by lightning strikes rather than human activity. Mean fire return intervals (FRI) were found to be 112 ± 49 years (based on fire scars) and 106 ± 36 years (based on fire scars and tree natality dates). FRI were increased with latitude increase, and observed to be about 80 years at 64°N, about 200 years near the Arctic Circle, and about 300 years nearby the northern range limit of larch stands (~71°+N). Northward FRI increase correlated with incoming solar radiation (r = - 0.95). Post Little Ice Age (LIA) warming (after 1850) caused approximately a doubling of fire events (in comparison with a similar period during LIA). The data obtained support a hypothesis of climate-induced fire frequency increase.

Keywords: Siberian wildfires; climate change; fire ecology; fire frequency; fire history; larch forests.

Abstract

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