For those unaware of what Tiaga means, here is a brief explainer.
"The swampy coniferous forest of high northern latitudes, especially that between the tundra and steppes of Siberia".
Now those that research climate for many years understand that fires are unfortunately part of it, either through a natural occurrence (lightning) or human caused.
Fire is the primary agent responsible for natural disturbances in the taiga. It can result from natural causes, such as lightning, or it can be set by humans. Large-scale insect outbreaks can weaken or kill trees over vast areas, thus creating an environment less resistant to fire. In the period between 1981 and 1989 an estimated 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres) burned annually in the Soviet Union, almost all of which occurred within the taiga region of Russia. The so-called Black Dragon Fire of 1987 in China and Russia may have been the largest single fire in the world in the past several hundred years. During the 20th century about 1 million hectares of taiga in Canada burned annually; a great majority of the burning occurred in the less-accessible boreal forests of the northern and western parts of the country. In Alaska in years that have prolonged hot and dry periods of summer weather, millions of hectares burn, primarily in a few very large fires. Intervals of about 200 years occur between fires in the uplands of northwestern Canada and in the interior of Alaska.
In much of the central and western taiga of North America, replacement of vegetation on upland sites, presumably by fire, appears to be necessary for forest regeneration. Floodplain islands usually do not burn and contain white spruce trees as old as 400 years. In the northern taiga of Europe, a pattern of periodic light ground fires in Scotch pine forests was typical before the era of fire control. The thick bark of these mature trees allowed them to survive these fires. In much of the taiga only wildland fires that threaten high-value resources are actively suppressed, or Managed. Complete fire suppression would cause soil temperature to decline gradually, promoting permafrost development that would cause a significant decrease in site productivity.
Jack pine and lodgepole pine have cones that remain closed on the tree (serotinous), and black spruce has semiserotinous cones; these cones do not open to release their seeds until a wax layer is melted by the heat of fire. White spruce seedlings require the bare mineral soil produced by burning of thick organic layers of the forest floor for proper establishment; they may time their periodic production of seed to dry periods when fire is more likely.
The taiga of Siberia covers 680 million hectares and represents nearly 19 percent of the world’s forested area and possibly 25 percent of the world’s forest volume. About 400,000 hectares of the Russian taiga are logged annually, and nearly an equal area is burned, with perhaps half of the burned area resulting from destructive fires of human origin. Social and economic problems in the early postcommunist era slowed the amount of logging by one-third to one-half. However, illegal felling accounted for 30 percent of the harvest by the early 21st century, and forestry officials feared that the practice was increasing. The fate of the Siberian taiga has become a matter of international concern.
When you hear the words "Climate change is creating more fires" in the Circumpolar region, please read this to the Narrator.
Thanks.
David.
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