Citation

Kharuk VI, Ponomarev EI, Ivanova GA, Dvinskaya ML, Coogan SCP, Flannigan MD. Ambio 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Publisher Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s13280-020-01490-x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The majority of area burned by wildfire are located in Siberia. Mainly low-intensity surface fires occur in larch forests, whereas in evergreen forests both surface and crown fires are observed. Warming has led to an increase in the frequency and area of wildfires that have reached the Arctic Ocean shore. However, wildfires are the most important factor in taiga dynamics; larch and Scots pine have evolved under conditions of periodic forest fires, thereby gaining a competitive advantage over non-fire adapted species; in the permafrost zone, periodic fires are a prerequisite for the dominance of larch. Wildfires support ecosystem health, biodiversity, and conservation; periodic wildfires decrease the danger of catastrophic wildfires. With an amplified rate of increase in fires, it is necessary to focus fire suppression on areas of high social, natural, and economic value, while allowing a greater number of wildfires to burn in the vast Siberian forest landscapes.

Language: en

Keywords

Forest fires; Siberian wildfire; Wildfire dynamics; Wildfire impacts in Siberia; Wildfire in permafrost zone