Boreal Wildfires Research Articles

Effects of post-fire salvage logging on boreal mixed-wood ground beetle assemblages (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

The frequency and intensity of salvage logging has recently increased in burned forests of the Canadian boreal so that post-fire areas make up a significant annual share of all harvested forest land in some years. However, little is known about how this practice affects re-establishment of animal and plant communities that already have been strongly altered by the fire. We pitfall-trapped carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) for two consecutive years following a large-scale boreal wildfire (276,000 ha) in burned mixed-wood forests of 12 landscape units (2.5 km × 2.5 km each). These units included four salvage treatments, each replicated three times: control (no salvaging), low (ca. 20–30% of merchantable mixed-wood removed), moderate (40–50%) and high salvage intensity (60–70%). We established 16 sampling sites in each unit: on the control landscapes, all 16 sites were in un-logged stands; in low-salvage units, 4 out of 16 sites were in salvaged areas; in moderate- and high-salvage units, 8 and 12 out of 16 sites, respectively, were in salvaged areas. Salvage logging positively affected carabid species richness. However, there was an overall salvage-caused decrease in the abundance of many common forest-dwelling carabids, and an increase in the abundance of disturbance or open-habitat specialists. Interestingly, the effects of salvage logging on the total catch and several abundant forest species (e.g., Calosoma frigidum, Harpalus laevipes, Pterostichus punctatissimus, P. adstrictus and Platynus decentis) appeared to be more important at the landscape level (the four landscape treatments) than at the level of sampling sites (site logged versus not). We suggest that this observation resulted from ambiguous site-level responses to salvage that collectively contributed to the (mostly negative) significant responses at the landscape level. Effects of fire severity (estimates based on tree survival) on carabids were species-specific; however, the impact of this measure was most often significant at the site, and not at the landscape, level. A Multivariate Regression Tree revealed that fire severity and the overall (pre-fire) amount of mixed-wood forest on the landscape were significant determinants of assemblage structure, with the local effects of fire severity being strongest.

Black (pyrogenic) carbon: a synthesis of current knowledge and uncertainties with special consideration of boreal regions

Abstract. The carbon (C) cycle in boreal regions is strongly influenced by fire, which converts biomass and detrital C mainly to gaseous forms (CO2 and smaller proportions of CO and CH4), and some 1–3% of mass to pyrogenic C (PyC). PyC is mainly produced as solid charred residues, including visually-defined charcoal, and a black carbon (BC) fraction chemically defined by its resistance to laboratory oxidation, plus much lower proportions of volatile soot and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). All PyC is characterized by fused aromatic rings, but varying in cluster sizes, and presence of other elements (N, O) and functional groups. The range of PyC structures is often described as a continuum from partially charred plant materials, to charcoal, soot and ultimately graphite which is formed by the combination of heat and pressure. There are several reasons for current interest in defining more precisely the role of PyC in the C cycle of boreal regions. First, PyC is largely resistant to decomposition, and therefore contributes to very stable C pools in soils and sediments. Second, it influences soil processes, mainly through its sorption properties and cation exchange capacity, and third, soot aerosols absorb solar radiation and may contribute to global warming. However, there are large gaps in the basic information needed to address these topics. While charcoal is commonly defined by visual criteria, analytical methods for BC are mainly based on various measures of oxidation resistance, or on yield of benzenepolycarboxylic acids. These methods are still being developed, and capture different fractions of the PyC structural continuum. There are few quantitative reports of PyC production and stocks in boreal forests (essentially none for boreal peatlands), and results are difficult to compare due to varying experimental goals and methods, as well as inconsistent terminology. There are almost no direct field measurements of BC aerosol production from boreal wildfires, and little direct information on rates and mechanisms for PyC loss. Structural characterization of charred biomass and forest floor from wildfires generally indicates a low level of thermal alteration, with the bulk of the material having H/C ratios still >0.2, and small aromatic cluster sizes. Especially for the more oxidation-resistant BC fraction, a variety of mainly circumstantial evidence suggests very slow decomposition, with turnover on a millennial timescale (in the order of 5–7 ky), also dependent on environmental conditions. However, there is also evidence that some PyC may be lost in only tens to hundreds of years due to a combination of lower thermal alteration and environmental protection. The potential for long-term PyC storage in soil may also be limited by its consumption by subsequent fires. Degraded, functionalized PyC is also incorporated into humified soil organic matter, and is transported eventually to marine sediments in dissolved and particulate form. Boreal production is estimated as 7–17 Tg BC y−1 of solid residues and 2–2.5 Tg BC y−1 as aerosols, compared to global estimates of 40–240 and 10–30 Tg BC y−1, respectively. Primary research needs include basic field data on PyC production and stocks in boreal forests and peatlands, suitable to support C budget modeling, and development of standardized analytical methods and of improved approaches to assess the chemical recalcitrance of typical chars from boreal wildfires. To accomplish these goals effectively will require much greater emphasis on interdisciplinary cooperation.

Wildfires threaten mercury stocks in northern soils

With climate change rapidly affecting northern forests and wetlands, mercury reserves once protected in cold, wet soils are being exposed to burning, likely triggering large releases of mercury to the atmosphere. We quantify organic soil mercury stocks and burn areas across western, boreal Canada for use in fire emission models that explore controls of burn area, consumption severity, and fuel loading on atmospheric mercury emissions. Though renowned as hotspots for the accumulation of mercury and its transformation to the toxic methylmercury, boreal wetlands might soon transition to hotspots for atmospheric mercury emissions. Estimates of circumboreal mercury emissions from this study are 15‐fold greater than estimates that do not account for mercury stored in peat soils. Ongoing and projected increases in boreal wildfire activity due to climate change will increase atmospheric mercury emissions, contributing to the anthropogenic alteration of the global mercury cycle and exacerbating mercury toxicities for northern food chains.

Evidence of significant large‐scale impacts of boreal fires on ozone levels in the midlatitude Northern Hemisphere free troposphere

Summertime observations of O3 and CO made at the PICO‐NARE station during 2001, 2003, and 2004 are used to assess the impact of boreal forest fires on the distribution of O3 mixing ratios in the midlatitude Northern Hemisphere (NH) lower free troposphere (FT). Backward trajectories were used to select measurements impacted by outflow from high‐latitude regions. Measurements during these periods were segregated into two subsets: those obtained during periods with and without apparent significant upwind fire emissions. Periods affected by fire emissions were identified based on enhanced CO levels confirmed by global simulations of fire emissions transport. During fire‐impacted periods, O3 was shifted toward higher mixing ratios, with medians significantly higher than in periods without detectable upwind fire impacts. This implies a significant impact of boreal wildfires on midlatitude lower FT background O3 during summer. Predicted future increases in boreal wildfires may therefore affect summertime O3 levels over large regions.

Possible effect of boreal wildfire soot on Arctic sea ice and Alaska glaciers

Abstract The role of black carbon (BC) soot in the Arctic as an agent of climate warming through forcing/feedback of sea ice/glacier albedo is an uncertainty in need of addressing. In-situ measurements of BC-aerosols and gas byproducts from the FROSTFIRE experiment burn, 8–11 July 1999, are used with a coupled high-resolution wind field/empirical fall-out model to assess transport/dispersion and estimate deposition. Results suggest that BC-aerosols (soot) are quickly transported from central Alaska to the Arctic Ocean region of multi-year sea ice and to southern Alaska glaciers, where up to 20% can be deposited. The estimate of BC soot concentration from Alaska boreal wildfires favorably compares to in-situ sea ice observations made in 1998 and snow albedo observation on Gulkana Glacier in 2001. We hypothesize that northern boreal wildfires are a possible contributor in the reduction of first/multi-year sea ice/glacier extent by enhancing summer melting from albedo reduction. Should the occurrence and severity of northern boreal wildfires continue as in summer 2004, during which more than 670 km 2 burned and was the worst wildfire year on record, there will be implications for Northern hemisphere climate warming.

Watershed Impacts of Logging and Wildfire: Case Studies in Canada

ABSTRACT In Canada, disturbance of boreal forests has increased due to expanding anthropogenic activities, particularly forestry. A first attempt was made to evaluate impacts of forest harvesting and wildfire on changes in water quality and biota of lakes. We present case studies in two major geological and climatic subregions of the boreal ecozone in Canada: the Boreal Plain and the Boreal Shield. Responses of lake ecosystems to wildfire and logging differed. In upland Boreal Plain lakes, total phosphorus (P), inorganic nitrogen (N) and algal biomass were higher in lakes with burned watersheds, whereas, only total P increased in lakes with watershed logging. Logging on the Boreal Shield and wildfire in wetland-and permafrost-dominated watersheds on the northern Boreal Plain were associated with increases in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and water colour, possibly causing light-limitation of algae in both regions, and a decrease in calanoid biomass in eastern Boreal Shield lakes. The number of water quality indicators affected by watershed disturbances was greater in the oligotrophic ecosystems of the Boreal Shield. The nutrient response of disturbed lakes was strongly related to lake drainage ratios: lakes with high drainage ratios had the strongest response to disturbance. Effects were also dependent on climate, wetland coverage, and regional lake characteristics. Morphometric, chemical, and biological indicators are recommended to monitor natural and anthropogenic watershed disturbances of aquatic ecosystems in Canada's Boreal forest.