Wildfire Impact on the Main Tree Species of the Near-Yenisei Siberia

Abstract

Wildfires are the major cause of forest death in Siberia, as well as one of the main ecological factors forming biodiversity. Here, we present the impact of surface wildfires on Northern Eurasian boreal ecosystems with the example of the main tree species in the Near–Yenisei Siberia. The wildfire impact in the study area is determined by the mean annual burning rate of 0.20 ± 0.05%. In the extremely dry summer of 2012, this value increased to 19%. The integral fire radiative power through the season reached 4.1 × 105 MW/km2, whereas the mean annual value did not exceed 0.64 × 105 MW/km2. Our observations demonstrate the highly variable effect of surface fires on conifer species in Siberia. Only trees with DBH > 5 cm survived a year after moderate severity surface fires. After high severity (usually steady) surface fires only pine trees with DBH > 17.2 cm survived, while trees with DBH > 18.1 cm were the most resistant within further post–fire succession.