scholarly journals Potential Alteration by Climate Change of the Forest-Fire Regime in the Boreal Forest of Central Yukon Territory

ARCTIC ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
V.M. McCoy ◽  
C.R. Burn
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Yukon Territory

Forest fire occurrence and climate change in Canada

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 253 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. M. Wotton ◽  
C. A. Nock ◽  
M. D. Flannigan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Fire Occurrence ◽  
Fire Activity ◽  
In Fire

The structure and function of the boreal forest are significantly influenced by forest fires. The ignition and growth of fires depend quite strongly on weather; thus, climate change can be expected to have a considerable impact on forest fire activity and hence the structure of the boreal forest. Forest fire occurrence is an extremely important element of fire activity as it defines the load on suppression resources a fire management agency will face. We used two general circulation models (GCMs) to develop projections of future fire occurrence across Canada. While fire numbers are projected to increase across all forested regions studied, the relative increase in number of fires varies regionally. Overall across Canada, our results from the Canadian Climate Centre GCM scenarios suggest an increase in fire occurrence of 25% by 2030 and 75% by the end of the 21st century. Results projected from fire climate scenarios derived from the Hadley Centre GCM suggest fire occurrence will increase by 140% by the end of this century. These general increases in fire occurrence across Canada agree with other regional and national studies of the impacts of climate change on fire activity. Thus, in the absence of large changes to current climatic trends, significant fire regime induced changes in the boreal forest ecosystem are likely.

scholarly journals Changes of forest fire regime and landscape pattern under different harvesting modes in a boreal forest of Northeast China

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 841-851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongwei Chen ◽  
Yuanman Hu ◽  
Yu Chang ◽  
Rencang Bu ◽  
Yuehui Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Landscape Pattern ◽  
Northeast China ◽  
Fire Regime

Boreal Forest Fire Regimes And Climate Change

2001 ◽  
pp. 233-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Stocks ◽  
B. M. Wotton ◽  
M. D. Flannigan ◽  
M. A. Fosberg ◽  
D. R. Cahoon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Fire Regimes

Canadian boreal forest ecosystem structure and function in a changing climate: impact on fire regimes

1997 ◽  
Vol 5 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 145-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
M G Weber ◽  
M D Flannigan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Ecosystem ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Fire Regimes ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Ecosystem Structure ◽  
Changing Climate ◽  
And Function ◽  
Ecosystem Structure And Function

Boreal forest fire regime, which encompasses fire intensity, frequency, seasonality, size, type (crown versus surface), and severity (depth of burn), is an organizing factor of boreal forest landscapes and highly dependant on climate. This review combines what is known about boreal forest dynamics from paleological studies, with the information derived from state-of-the-art climate and vegetation modeling, to present possible scenarios of the impact of anticipated climate change on boreal forest ecosystem structure and function, particularly in relation to fire regimes. Anticipated climatic/atmospheric impact on plant physiological, communal, ecosystem, and finally landscape-level interactions with fire are reviewed. All indications from the modeling sector point towards unprecedented increased regional or seasonal temperatures, with projected changes most pronounced at high latitudes and there greatest in winter. Anticipated climate change scenarios are expected to alter dramatically the boreal forest ecosystems and fire regimes with which they are currently in equilibrium. Changed fire regimes could be represented by increased annual area burned because of an extended fire season, increased fire frequency, and severity. Simulation studies show the potential for greatly reduced boreal forest area and increased fragmentation due to climate change. Fire regime as an ecosystem process is highly sensitive to climate change because fire behaviour responds immediately to fuel moisture, which is affected by precipitation, relative humidity, air temperature, and wind speed. This interaction between climate change and fire regime has the potential to overshadow the importance of the direct effects of global warming on species distribution, migration, substitution, and extinction. Such a scenario suggests that rate and magnitude of fire-regime-induced changes to the boreal forest landscape could greatly exceed anything expected due to atmospheric warming alone. Socioeconomic implications of altered fire regimes in a changing climate are discussed in terms of adaptive fire management strategies, age class distribution, and such global stewardship issues as biodiversity, carbon cycling, and sequestration.

Climatic and landscape controls of the boreal forest fire regime: Holocene records from Alaska

2004 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
JASON A. LYNCH ◽  
JEREMY L. HOLLIS ◽  
FENG SHENG HU
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Fire Regime

The impact of climate change on forest fire danger rating in China’s boreal forest

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guang Yang ◽  
Xue-ying Di ◽  
Qing-xi Guo ◽  
Zhan Shu ◽  
Tao Zeng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Fire Danger ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
Forest Fire Danger ◽  
The Impact

Age and size effects on seed productivity of northern black spruce

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 534-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayme N. Viglas ◽  
Carissa D. Brown ◽  
Jill F. Johnstone
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Seed Production ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Seed Viability ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Yukon Territory ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Seed Productivity ◽  
Cone Production

Slow-growing conifers of the northern boreal forest may require several decades to reach reproductive maturity, making them vulnerable to increases in disturbance frequency. Here, we examine the relationship between stand age and seed productivity of black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb.) in Yukon Territory and Alaska. Black spruce trees were aged and surveyed for cone production and seed viability across 30 even-aged stands ranging from 12 to 197 years old. Logistic regression indicated that individual trees had a ∼50% probability of producing cones by age 30 years, which increased to 90% by age 100 years. Cone and seed production increased steadily with age or basal area at both the tree and stand level, with no evidence of declining seed production in trees older than 150 years. Using published seed:seedling ratios, we estimated that postfire recruitment will be limited by seed availability in stands for up to 50 years (on high-quality seedbeds) to 150 years (low-quality seedbeds) after fire. By quantifying these age and seed productivity relationships, we can improve our ability to predict the sensitivity of conifer seed production to a range of disturbance frequencies and thus anticipate changes in boreal forest resilience to altered fire regime.

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