Long-Term Spatial Patterns Created by Fire: a Model Oriented Towards Boreal Forests

Abstract

Fire is one of the most important factors structuring boreal forests. A spatial simulation model based on a cellular automata approach was built to obtain insights into the spatial pattern of successional stages. Two scenarios are compared: 1. constant flammability and 2. flammability increasing during succession. Spatial structure strongly depends on the specific form of age-dependent flammability. The fine structure of single fires generated by the model is analyzed by five different measures and is in agreement with empirical evidence.