Increasing Fuel Loads, Fire Hazard, and Carbon Emissions from Fires in Central Siberia

Abstract

The vast Angara region, with an area of 13.8 million ha, is located in the southern taiga of central Siberia, Russia. This is one of the most disturbed regions by both fire and logging in northern Asia. We have developed surface and ground fuel-load maps by integrating satellite and ground-based data with respect to the forest-growing conditions and the disturbance of the territory by anthropogenic and natural factors (fires and logging). We found that from 2001 to 2020, fuel loads increased by 8% in the study region, mainly due to a large amount of down woody debris at clearcuts and burned sites. The expansion of the disturbed areas in the Angara region resulted in an increase in natural fire hazards in spring and summer. Annual carbon emissions from fires varied from 0.06 to 6.18 Mt, with summer emissions accounting for more than 95% in extreme fire years and 31–68% in the years of low fire activity. While the trend in the increase in annual carbon emissions from fires is not statistically significant due to its high interannual variability and a large disturbance of the study area, there are significantly increasing trends in mean carbon emissions from fires per unit area (p < 0.005) and decadal means (p < 0.1). In addition, we found significant trends in the increase in emissions released by severe fires (p < 0.005) and by fires in wetter, dark, coniferous (spruce, p < 0.005 and Siberian pine, p < 0.025) forests. This indicates deeper burning and loss of legacy carbon that impacts on the carbon cycle resulting in climate feedback.

Temporal and Spatial Analyses of Forest Burnt Area in the Middle Volga Region Based on Satellite Imagery and Climatic Factors

“…Several studies have investigated the dynamics of forest fire behaviour and burnt areas in the different regions of the Russian Federation [13,[52][53][54][55][56]. These studies have revealed differences in the sensitivity of forest fire regimes to climate change and fire return interval (FRI) variability across the territory of the Russian Federation.…”

How Does Fire Suppression Alter the Wildfire Regime? A Systematic Review

“…Wildfires are global phenomena that elicit widespread concern worldwide. They not only directly threaten the assets and values of human societies in fire-prone regions [1][2][3], but also have detrimental effects on critical ecosystem services [4], including air pollution [5,6] soil erosion [7], and carbon loss [8][9][10][11]. Furthermore, these threats are exacerbated by the increasing probability and severity of wildfires caused by global warming [12][13][14][15], amplifying the significance of wildfires as a concern.…”

Estimating the Surface Fuel Load of the Plant Physiognomy of the Cerrado Grassland Using Landsat 8 OLI Products

“…Roberts et al [7] indicated the following essential attributes for understanding fire behavior: fuel type, fuel biomass, fuel moisture, and fuel condition (live or dead). The fuel load is a crucial variable commonly used in various fire management strategies, such as fire risk assessments and fire behavior prediction [3,8]. The fuel load has a significant influence on the modeling of biomass and carbon estimates, and its knowledge for land managers is fundamental [9].…”