The increase in the number and area of fires in Siberia’s pine forests has been associated with abnormally high temperatures and drought, scientists from the Forest Institute named after him. VN Sukachev SB RAS. The researchers’ work has been published in the Siberian Ecological Journal.
The area of pine forests in Russia is about 120 million hectares. They are important carbon sinks, protect soil from erosion, improve water quality and reduce the effects of global warming. The pine tree itself is a valuable raw material. However, fires occur regularly in pine forests.
The total area of burning areas in pine forests in Central Siberia between 2001 and 2020 amounted to 3.5 million hectares. Russian experts have found that over the past two centuries, the duration of the “breaks” between these fires has decreased by about 10 years – from 30-35 to 20-25 years. In the 2010s, the number and area of fires tripled compared to the 2000s. The researchers discovered that this was due to abnormally high air temperatures and increased aridity of the climate.
At the same time, the scientists found that the productivity of vegetation and the growth index of pine returned relatively quickly, within a decade, to pre-fire values. According to experts, this recovery shows that boreal forests continue to function as a carbon sink despite climate change and an increase in fire frequency.
Source: Ferra
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