scholarly journals A Comparative Analysis of Burned Area Datasets in Canadian Boreal Forest in 2000

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laia Núñez-Casillas ◽  
José Rafael García Lázaro ◽  
José Andrés Moreno-Ruiz ◽  
Manuel Arbelo
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Diverse Group ◽  
Spatial Accuracy ◽  
Noaa Avhrr ◽  
Fire Activity ◽  
Canadian Boreal Forest ◽  
Area Data

The turn of the new millennium was accompanied by a particularly diverse group of burned area datasets from different sensors in the Canadian boreal forests, brought together in a year of low global fire activity. This paper provides an assessment of spatial and temporal accuracy, by means of a fire-by-fire comparison of the following: two burned area datasets obtained from SPOT-VEGETATION (VGT) imagery, a MODIS Collection 5 burned area dataset, and three different datasets obtained from NOAA-AVHRR. Results showed that burned area data from MODIS provided accurate dates of burn but great omission error, partially caused by calibration problems. One of the VGT-derived datasets (L3JRC) represented the largest number of fire sites in spite of its great overall underestimation, whereas the GBA2000 dataset achieved the best burned area quantification, both showing delayed and very variable fire timing. Spatial accuracy was comparable between the 5 km and the 1 km AVHRR-derived datasets but was remarkably lower in the 8 km dataset leading, us to conclude that at higher spatial resolutions, temporal accuracy was lower. The probable methodological and contextual causes of these differences were analyzed in detail.

Linking tree rings, summer aridity, and regional fire data: an example from the boreal forests of the Komi Republic, East European Russia

2004 ◽  
Vol 34 (11) ◽  
pp. 2327-2339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Drobyshev ◽  
Mats Niklasson
Keyword(s):  
Tree Ring ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Siberian Larch ◽  
Komi Republic ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Annual Number ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Tree Ring Data ◽  
Fire Activity

To evaluate the potential use of tree-ring data as a proxy for fire activity at the scale of a large boreal region, we analyzed a set of regional tree-ring chronologies of Siberian larch (Larix sibirica L.), a spatially implicit annual fire record, and monthly climate data for the Komi Republic for the period 1950–1990. In most years, annually burned area was below 0.001% of the republic's forested area and reached up to 0.7% during fire-prone years. Principal components (PC) of summer aridity resolved 64.2% of the annual variation in the number of fires, 12.2% in the average fire size, and 59.2% in the annually burned area. In turn, tree-ring PCs explained 65.2% of variation in fire-related weather PCs. Dendrochronological reconstruction of the annual number of fires and of the log-transformed annually burned area predicted 27.0% and 40.1% of the high-frequency variance of these variables, respectively. Coefficient of efficiency, a measure of reconstruction usefulness, reached 0.081 (number of fires) and 0.315 (annual area burned), supporting the obtained index as a realistic proxy for regional fire activity. Decadal variation in coefficient of efficiency values suggested improved monitoring accuracy since 1960 and more effective fire suppression during the last studied decade (1980–1990).

Burned Area Detection in the Canadian Boreal Forest Using MODIS Imagery

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 597
Author(s):  
Hui YOU ◽  
Ronggao LIU ◽  
Shanyou ZHU ◽  
Yang LIU
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Modis Imagery ◽  
Canadian Boreal Forest

Fires can overwinter in boreal forests of North America

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Scholten ◽  
Sander Veraverbeke
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Northwest Territories ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Fire Spread ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Organic Soils ◽  
Boreal Winter ◽  
Large Fire ◽  
Lightning Strikes

<div>The boreal forest stores 35 % of the world’s soil carbon reserves. Wildfires burn frequently in the boreal forest of North America and drive the boreal forest carbon balance. Previously, lightning strikes and human activities were identified as the sole ignition sources for wildfires in the boreal regions of North America. In recent years however, fire managers in Alaska, USA and Northwest Territories, Canada have started reporting the occurrence of overwintering fires. Overwintering fires are fires, that survive the cold and wet boreal winter by smouldering in deep, carbon-rich soils and re-emerge early in the subsequent spring, when fire weather favours fire spread.</div><div>Using the location and ignition dates of 42 overwintering fires reported by fire managers in Alaska and Northwest Territories between 2002 and 2017, we developed an algorithm to identify these new ignition sources. Our algorithm detected 8 out of 9 additional reported fires we used for validation, and further identified 15 unreported overwintering fires. Even though overwintering fires make up only 0.5 % of the burned area in total, they can amount to up to more than 10 % of the annual burned area after exceptionally large fire years.</div><div>We found that overwintering of fires is facilitated by deep burning into the organic soils. Overwintering fires occur more frequently after large fire years in combination with subsequent mild winters and springs leading to an early snowmelt.</div><div>In a warming climate, the boreal forest is burning more frequently and more intensely. As a consequence, the burned area and burn depth are predicted to increase. Our results suggest that overwintering fires are closely tied to these conditions and will therefore occur more often in the future.</div>

scholarly journals Drought Modulated Boreal Forest Fire Occurrence and Linkage with La Nina Events in Altai Mountains, Northwest China

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunming Shi ◽  
Ying Liang ◽  
Cong Gao ◽  
Fengjun Zhao ◽  
Qiuhua Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drought Stress ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
El Niño ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Fire Occurrence ◽  
La Nina

Warming-induced drought stress and El Nino associated summer precipitation failure are responsible for increased forest fire intensities of tropical and temperate forests in Asia and Australia. However, both effects are unclear for boreal forests, the largest biome and carbon stock over land. Here we combined fire frequency, burned area and climate data in the Altai boreal forests, the southmost extension of Siberia boreal forest into China, and explored their link with ENSO (El Nino and South Oscillation). Surprisingly, both summer drought severity and fire occurrence have shown significant (P<0.05) teleconnections with La Nina events of the previous year, and therefore provide an important reference for forest fire prediction and prevention in Altai. Despite a significant warming trend, the increased moisture over Altai has largely offset the effect of warming-induced drought stress, and lead to an insignificant fire frequency trend in the last decades, and largely reduced burned area since the 1980s. The reduced burned area could also benefit from the fire suppression efforts and greatly increased investment in fire prevention since 1987.

scholarly journals Landscape composition influences local pattern of fire size in the eastern Canadian boreal forest: role of weather and landscape mosaic on fire size distribution in mixedwood boreal forest using the Prescribed Fire Analysis System

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 1099 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christelle Hély ◽  
C. Marie-Josée Fortin ◽  
Kerry R. Anderson ◽  
Yves Bergeron
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Landscape Composition ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Fire Size ◽  
Fire Cycle ◽  
Area Burned ◽  
Analysis System

Wildfire simulations were carried out using the Prescribed Fire Analysis System (PFAS) to study the effect of landscape composition on fire sizes in eastern Canadian boreal forests. We used the Lake Duparquet forest as reference, plus 13 forest mosaic scenarios whose compositions reflected lengths of fire cycle. Three fire weather risks based on duff moisture were used. We performed 100 simulations per risk and mosaic, with topography and hydrology set constant for the reference. Results showed that both weather and landscape composition significantly influenced fire sizes. Weather related to fire propagation explained almost 79% of the variance, while landscape composition and weather conditions for ignition explained ∼14 and 2% respectively. In terms of landscape, burned area increased with increasing presence of shade-tolerant species, which are related to long fire cycles. Comparisons among the distributions of cumulated area burned from scenarios plus those from the Société de Protection des Forêts contre le Feu database archives showed that PFAS simulated realistic fire sizes using the 80–100% class of probable fire extent. Future analyses would best be performed on a larger region as the limited size of the study area could not capture fires larger than 11 000 ha, which represent 3% of fires but 65% of the total area burned at the provincial scale.

Identification of potential organisms of relevance to Canadian boreal forest and northern lands for testing of contaminated soils

2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Römbke ◽  
S Jänsch ◽  
R Scroggins
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Contaminated Soils ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Method Development ◽  
Species Selection ◽  
Carabid Beetles ◽  
Test Species ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Collembolan Species ◽  
Canadian Boreal Forest

A literature review has been performed with the aim of identifying potential soil invertebrate species, culturing techniques, and testing methodologies of relevance to Canadian boreal forest, taiga, and tundra ecozones. This was achieved through a review of European and Canadian ecological and ecotoxicological literature. The criteria for candidate species selection included habitat, frequency and abundance, origin, taxonomy, practicability, and stress tolerance. Nineteen species or genera common to both Northern Europe and Canada were identified as proposed test organisms in ecotoxicological test methodologies. Some of these species are currently in culture at various European or Canadian laboratories. Three earthworm and one collembolan species were recommended for further method development, while two more collembolan species as well as a yet to be identified Canadian species of four genera of enchytraeids, nematods, predatory mites, and carabid beetles were recommended but need further research. A number of issues with the recommended species were identified that would need resolution through focused research. Also, additional potential test species were identified based on their frequency of occurrence in boreal forests and northern lands for possible further method development consideration. Available information and current research activities on Canadian soil invertebrates relevant to the boreal forest, taiga, and tundra ecozones should be compiled using a similar classification and short-list selection process as used for this contribution to help identify additional candidate test species. The recommended species could be used as part of a test battery covering litter layer and mineral soils of Canadian boreal forests and northern lands.Key words: Carabidae, Collembola, Enchytraeidae, Gamasida, Lumbricidae, Nematoda.

A review of exotic earthworm observations in the Canadian boreal forest and taiga zones

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-David Moore ◽  
Rock Ouimet ◽  
John W. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Source ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Acid Soils ◽  
Taiga Zone ◽  
Earthworm Species ◽  
Exotic Earthworms ◽  
Harsh Climate ◽  
Canadian Boreal Forest

In the last decades, concerns have emerged that boreal forests could convert from a carbon sink to a carbon source, thus accentuating climate change. Although forest fire is generally mentioned as the main factor that could cause the boreal forest to transition to a carbon source, other factors, such as exotic earthworm activity, could also play an important role. Invasive exotic earthworms can also affect nutrient cycling, biodiversity and forest dynamics. In this context, a better knowledge of the distribution of exotic earthworms can help understand the likely changes in the ecosystems that they have colonized. Here we report the results of an exhaustive literature review of the presence of exotic earthworms in the Canadian boreal forest and taiga zones. We identified 230 sectors containing 14 earthworm species (11 exotic, 2 native and 1 putative native) in 6 provinces and 3 territories across Canada’s boreal forest and taiga zone. We also report 23 as-yet unpublished observations from the province of Quebec. We note the presence of earthworms in environments (acid soils, harsh climate) that were historically considered inadequate for their survival. This suggests that the portion of Canada’s boreal forests suitable for their presence or colonization is larger than what was previously believed. This study represents the first compilation of exotic earthworm presence in this large northern area. Factors that could affect their distribution and potential effects on boreal ecosystems are also discussed. Globally, several earthworm species seem to be overcoming the previously assumed limitation by temperature and pH.

scholarly journals Drought-Modulated Boreal Forest Fire Occurrence and Linkage with La Nina Events in Altai Mountains, Northwest China

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 956
Author(s):  
Chunming Shi ◽  
Ying Liang ◽  
Cong Gao ◽  
Qiuhua Wang ◽  
Lifu Shu
Keyword(s):  
Drought Stress ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
El Niño ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Burned Area ◽  
Fire Occurrence ◽  
La Nina

Warming-induced drought stress and El Nino-associated summer precipitation failure are responsible for increased forest fire intensities of tropical and temperate forests in Asia and Australia. However, both effects are unclear for boreal forests, the largest biome and carbon stock over land. Here, we combined fire frequency, burned area, and climate data in the Altai boreal forests, the southmost extension of Siberia’s boreal forest into China, and explored their link with El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Surprisingly, both summer drought severity and fire occurrence showed significant (p < 0.05) correlation with La Nina events of the previous year and therefore provide an important reference for forest fire prediction and prevention in Altai. Despite a significant warming trend, the increased moisture over Altai has largely offset the effect of warming-induced drought stress and led to an insignificant fire frequency trend in the last decades, resulting in largely reduced burned area since the 1980s. The reduced burned area can also be attributed to fire suppression efforts and greatly increased investment in fire prevention since 1987.

scholarly journals Late Holocene fire history documented at Lake Khamra, SW Yakutia (Eastern Siberia)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramesh Glückler ◽  
Ulrike Herzschuh ◽  
Luidmila Pestryakova ◽  
Stefan Kruse ◽  
Stuart Vyse ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Fire History ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Permafrost Degradation ◽  
Reconstructed Temperature ◽  
Fire Activity ◽  
Microscopic Charcoal ◽  
Macroscopic Charcoal

&lt;p&gt;Recent large-scale fire events in Siberia have drawn increased attention to boreal forest fire history. Boreal forests contain about 25% of all global biomass and act as an enormous carbon storage. Fire events are important ecological disturbances connected to the overarching environmental changes that face the Arctic and Subarctic, like vegetation dynamics, permafrost degradation, changes in soil nutrient cycling and global warming, and act as the dominant driver behind boreal forest&amp;#8217;s landscape carbon balance. By looking into past fire regimes we can learn about fire frequency and potential linkages to other environmental factors, e.g. fuel types, reconstructed temperature/humidity or geomorphologic landscape dynamics. Unfortunately, fire history data is still very sparse in large parts of Siberia, a region strongly influenced by climate change. The Global Charcoal Database (www.paleofire.org) lists only a handful of continuous charcoal records for all of Siberia, with only three of those featuring published data from macroscopic charcoal as opposed to microscopic charcoal from pollen slides.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We aim to reconstruct the late Holocene fire history using lacustrine sediments of Lake Khamra (SW Yakutia at N 59.99&amp;#176;, E 112.98&amp;#176;). It covers an area of c. 4.6 km&amp;#178; with about 22 m maximum water depth, located within the zone of transition from summer-green and larch-dominated to evergreen boreal forest. We present the first continuous, high-resolution (c. 10 years/sample) macroscopic charcoal record (&gt; 150 &amp;#956;m) including information on particle size and morphology for the past c. 2200 years. We compare this to complementary information from microscopic charcoal in pollen slides, a pollen and non-pollen palynomorph record as well as &amp;#956;XRF data. This multi-proxy approach adds valuable data about fire activity in the region and allows a comparison of different prevalent fire reconstruction methods. As the first record of its kind from Siberia, it provides a long-term context for current fire activity in central Siberian boreal forests and enables a better understanding of the environmental interactions occurring in the changing subarctic landscape.&lt;/p&gt;

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