Effects of Wildfire on Structure and Function of Boreal Forest Ecosystem

Effects of Wildfire on Structure and Function of Boreal Forest Ecosystem PDF Author: Chuankuan Wang
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Get Book Here

Book Description

Effects of Wildfire on Structure and Function of Boreal Forest Ecosystem

Effects of Wildfire on Structure and Function of Boreal Forest Ecosystem PDF Author: Chuankuan Wang
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Get Book Here

Book Description


Effects of Wildfire on Structure and Function of Boreal Forest Ecosystems

Effects of Wildfire on Structure and Function of Boreal Forest Ecosystems PDF Author: Chuankuan Wang
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 546

Get Book Here

Book Description


Forest Fires

Forest Fires PDF Author: Edward A. Johnson
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080506747
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 617

Get Book Here

Book Description
Even before the myth of Prometheus, fire played a crucial ecological role around the world. Numerous plant communities depend on fire to generate species diversity in both time and space. Without fire such ecosystems would become sterile monocultures. Recent efforts to prohibit fire in fire dependent communities have contributed to more intense and more damaging fires. For these reasons, foresters, ecologists, land managers, geographers, and environmental scientists are interested in the behavior and ecological effects of fires. This book will be the first to focus on the chemistry and physics of fire as it relates to the ways in which fire behaves and the impacts it has on ecosystem function. Leading international contributors have been recruited by the editors to prepare a didactic text/reference that will appeal to both advanced students and practicing professionals.

Fire, Climate Change, and Carbon Cycling in the Boreal Forest

Fire, Climate Change, and Carbon Cycling in the Boreal Forest PDF Author: Eric S. Kasischke
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387216294
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 490

Get Book Here

Book Description
A discussion of the direct and indirect mechanisms by which fire and climate interact to influence carbon cycling in North American boreal forests. The first section summarizes the information needed to understand and manage fires' effects on the ecology of boreal forests and its influence on global climate change issues. Following chapters discuss in detail the role of fire in the ecology of boreal forests, present data sets on fire and the distribution of carbon, and treat the use of satellite imagery in monitoring these regions as well as approaches to modeling the relevant processes.

Remote Sensing and Climate Modeling: Synergies and Limitations

Remote Sensing and Climate Modeling: Synergies and Limitations PDF Author: Martin Beniston
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0306481499
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 347

Get Book Here

Book Description
1 2 Michel M. VERSTRAETE and Martin BENISTON 1 Space Applications Institute, EC Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy 2 Department of Geography, University of Fribourg, Switzerland This volume contains the proceedings ofthe workshop entitled “Satellite Remote Sensing and Climate Simulations: Synergies and Limitations” that took place in Les Diablerets, Switzerland, September 20–24, 1999. This international scientific conference aimed at addressing the current and pot- tial role of satellite remote sensing in climate modeling, with a particular focus on land surface processes and atmospheric aerosol characterization. Global and regional circulation models incorporate our knowledge ofthe dynamics ofthe Earth's atmosphere. They are used to predict the evolution of the weather and climate. Mathematically, this system is represented by a set ofpartial differential equations whose solution requires initial and bo- dary conditions. Limitations in the accuracy and geographical distribution of these constraints, and intrinsic mathematical sensitivity to these conditions do not allow the identification of a unique solution (prediction). Additional observations on the climate system are thus used to constrain the forecasts of the mathematical model to remain close to the observed state ofthe system.

Fire in Ecosystems of Boreal Eurasia

Fire in Ecosystems of Boreal Eurasia PDF Author: Johann Georg Goldammer
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 940158737X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 543

Get Book Here

Book Description
One of the first priority areas among joint East/West research programs is the rational use of natural resources and sustainable development of regions. In the boreal zone of North America and Eurasia forests are economically very important and, at the same time highly vulnerable to disturbances. Because of its size and ecological functions the boreal forest zone and its most dynamic disturbance factor - fire - play an important role in ecosystem processes on global scale. Interest within the global change research community in Northern Eurasia (Fennoscandia, European Russia, Siberia, and the Far East of Russia) has grown dramatically in the last few years. It is a vast area about which very little is known. It is a region where temperature rise due to anthropogenic climate forcing is predicted to be the greatest, and where the consequent feedbacks to the atmosphere are potentially large. In addition, it is poised to undergo rapid economic development, which may lead to large and significant changes to its land cover. Much of this interest in Northern Eurasia, as in the high latitude regions in general, is centerd on its role in the global carbon cycle, which is likely to be significantly affected under global change. New research initiatives between Western and Eastern countries have been designed to address a series of phenomena, problems and management solutions.

Ecology of Wildfire Residuals in Boreal Forests

Ecology of Wildfire Residuals in Boreal Forests PDF Author: Ajith Perera
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118870581
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Get Book Here

Book Description
Large and intense wildfires are integral to the globally important boreal forest biome. While much is known about boreal wildfires, the focus on forest remnants that either escape or survive these intense fires is a recent phenomenon: academics now study ecological processes of wildfire residuals, forest policymakers use their patterns to design harvest strategies, forest managers consider their economic value, and conservationists recognize their intrinsic ecological importance. Ecology of Wildfire Residuals in Boreal Forests is the first book to explore ecological patterns and processes of what does not burn within boreal wildfires. Following a brief introduction to the boreal forest biome, it discusses the processes that form wildfire residuals; how they are studied, with various approaches and methods; the types, extent, and ecological functions of wildfire residuals; and their role in forest management applications, all in the context of ecological scale. This book is a reference for researchers and graduate students studying boreal forest ecology, as well as for policymakers and forest managers. It adopts a non-reductionist perspective that will be of interest to scientists from conservation science, forest ecology, forest management, and timber production. Brings together fire behaviour, ecological scale, vegetation ecology, and conservation biology to provide a cross disciplinary, multi-scale, and an integrative discussion of forest fire residuals Captures the state of knowledge with a meta-analysis of research trends during the past few decades, with a comprehensive review of the literature, a compilation of key references, and a list of key topics relevant to the study of boreal wildfire residuals Identifies the major gaps and uncertainties in the present body of knowledge, including a critique of study techniques and reporting practices to date, and proposes a set of terms and definitions and a list of research questions and priorities Includes the authors’ observations and research experience from boreal Canada, and information extracted from interactions with North American and European ecologists, forest managers, and conservationists

Toward a Better Understanding of Boreal Forest Fires and Their Role in the Climate System

Toward a Better Understanding of Boreal Forest Fires and Their Role in the Climate System PDF Author: Brendan Morris Rogers
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781303810312
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 202

Get Book Here

Book Description
Large areas of boreal forest in North America and Eurasia are frequently disturbed by wildfire. These fires alter ecosystem structure and function and affect climate through various biophysical and biogeochemical pathways. Fire-related forcings, however, are highly uncertain, can be opposite in sign, and depend on fire behavior as mediated by meteorology and intrinsic ecosystem properties. Our current understanding of large-scale fire dynamics is inadequate for fully characterizing their role in the climate system. This is particularly pertinent given the sensitivity of high latitudes and the large projected increases in fire frequencies during the 21st century. My dissertation aims to better characterize the controls on and feedbacks from boreal fires so that we may properly account for them in global change projections and potentially mitigate the impacts. I first quantified landscape-scale fire carbon emissions from a 2010 burn in Alaska using field measurements and fine-scale (30 m) remote sensing imagery. Accurate maps of fire emissions are needed to validate larger-scale models and quantify regional carbon fluxes, but are currently lacking due to spatial scaling issues. Here I show that by accounting for plot-level heterogeneity and species effects on spectral signatures, emission models can be generated from non-linear correlations between the differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) and field data. Belowground combustion was quantified from soil cores and scaled to the site-level using spruce adventitious root heights. Species-specific allometric equations and visual estimates were used to characterize aboveground carbon losses. Results indicated that fire-wide combustion (1.98 ± 0.19 kg C m−2) was substantially lower than that in the core burning area (2.67 ± 0.24 kg C m−2) and sites (2.88 ± 0.23 kg C m−2) because of lower-severity patches and unburned islands. These areas constitute a significant fraction of burn perimeters in Alaska but are generally not accounted for in regional-scale estimates. This approach may be suitable for other fires in the region. In addition to the positive forcing from carbon emissions, forest fires in boreal North America exert a cooling effect due to relatively large increases in spring albedo from canopy destruction and tree fall. Although this forcing has been characterized at local and regional scales, its climate impacts have not been assessed. I simulated the continental-scale climate footprint of this cooling under various burning scenarios. Forest composition was characterized using a stochastic model of fire occurrence, historical fire data from national inventories, and succession trajectories derived from moderate-scale remote sensing (500 m). When coupled to an Earth system model, younger vegetation from increased burning cooled the high-latitude atmosphere, primarily in the winter and spring, with noticeable feedbacks from the ocean and sea ice. Results from multiple scenarios suggested that a doubling of burn area could cool the surface by 0.23 ±0.09°C across boreal North America during winter and spring months (December through May). This has the potential to provide a negative feedback to winter warming across the domain on the order of 3 - 5% for a doubling, and 14 - 23% for a quadrupling, of burn area. Maximum cooling occurred in the areas of greatest burning and between February and April, reaching feedback potentials of up to 60%. Fire dynamics have been studied much less extensively in boreal Eurasia despite the region containing roughly 2/3rds of the world's boreal forests and displaying unique patterns of fire behavior. I used over a decade of satellite imagery to characterize variations in circumpolar fire behavior, immediate impacts, and longer-term responses. Compared to boreal North America, Eurasian fires were 58 ± 31% less likely to be crown fires, combusted 36 ± 5% less live vegetation, and caused 42 ± 5% less tree mortality. Eurasian fires also generated a 69 ± 9% smaller surface shortwave forcing during the initial post-fire decade, suggesting a near-neutral net climate forcing. Current global fire models were unable to capture the continental differences. I demonstrate that fire weather cannot explain the divergent fire dynamics and climate feedbacks. The primary drivers are shown to be species-level adaptations to fire, making this a preeminent example of species effects on continental-scale carbon and energy exchange.

Wildland Fire in Ecosystems

Wildland Fire in Ecosystems PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Animal ecology
Languages : en
Pages : 92

Get Book Here

Book Description


Fire Regimes: Spatial and Temporal Variability and Their Effects on Forests

Fire Regimes: Spatial and Temporal Variability and Their Effects on Forests PDF Author: Yves Bergeron
Publisher: MDPI
ISBN: 3038423904
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 433

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Fire Regimes: Spatial and Temporal Variability and Their Effects on Forests" that was published in Forests