Boreal Forest and Fire

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Boreal Forest and Fire
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  sq. mi. sq. km.

Boreal Forests 6.4 16.6
Other Forests 12.8 33.2
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Nearly continuous belt of coniferous trees across
North America and Eurasia
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Map source, Hare and Ritchie (1972).
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Climate associated with the Boreal Forest

• Long, severe winters
• Short summers
• Low summer precipitation

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Soils associated with the Boreal Forest
Overlying formerly glaciated areas and areas of
patchy permafrost Soils are podzols Soils are
very acidic and often waterlogged
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• Vegetation is a mosaic of successional and
  subclimax plant communities

Black and white spruce are characteristic species
along with jack pine and balsam fir
Successional species include alder (Alnus), birch
(Betula), and aspen (Populus).
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Black Spruce (Picea mariana)
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Jack Pine(Pinus banksiana)
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Lots of water bodies
Muskegs
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Patterns of annual area burned in the North American boreal forest illustrating a continuous rise in fire activity since the early 1970s (Kasischke 1999)
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Boreal Fire Locations between 1980 - 1994
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Fire Effects on Wildlife Populations
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CARBON CYCLE
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Fire influences carbon cycling both directly and
indirectly in the boreal forest
Direct consumption of trees, understory
vegetation, lichen, moss, litter, organic soil
RESULT instant flux of carbon to the atmosphere
Indirect 1) change in albedo (surface
reflectivity
RESULT slow flux of carbon to the atmosphere
Indirect 2) vegetation succession
RESULT CO2 sequestration during regrowth
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Fifty years of soil temperature data at a boreal
forest site near Fairbanks, Alaska indicate 2 - 5
oC warming, now approaching thaw. This warming
will likely effect fire regimes and the
occurrence of permafrost, which in turn will
effect carbon storage. Data of Vladimir
Romanovsky, 1999.
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