Fire return intervals within the northern boundary of the larch forest in Central Siberia
Vyacheslav I. Kharuk A C , Mariya L. Dvinskaya A and K. Jon Ranson B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A VN Sukachev Institute of Forest, Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, 660036 Russia.
B NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 618, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
C Corresponding author. Email: kharuk@ksc.krasn.ru
International Journal of Wildland Fire 22(2) 207-211 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF11181
Submitted: 22 December 2011 Accepted: 10 July 2012 Published: 11 September 2012
Abstract
A fire history of northern larch forests was studied. These larch forests are found near the northern limit of their range at ~71°N, where fires are predominantly caused by lightning strikes rather than human activity. Fire-return intervals (FRIs) were calculated based on fire scars and dates of tree natality. Tree natality was used as an approximation of the date of the last fire. The average FRI was found to be 295 ± 57 years, which is the longest reported for larch-dominated stands. Prior studies reported 80–90-year FRIs at 64°N and ~200 years near the latitude of the Arctic Circle. Comparing data from fires that occurred in 1700–1849 (end of the Little Ice Age, LIA) and 1850–1999 (post-LIA warming) indicates approximately twice as many fires occurred during the latter period. This agrees with the hypothesis that observed climatic warming will result in an increase in fire frequency. Our results also indicate that fires that did not leave visible fire scars on the tree stem may be identified based on the date of growth release revealed from dendrochronology.
Additional keywords: Larix gmelinii, wildfires.
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