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Scale-dependent determinants of heterogeneity in fire frequency in a coniferous boreal forest of eastern Canada

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Abstract

Despite the recognized importance of fire in North American boreal forests, the relative importance of stochastic and determinist portions of intra-regional spatial variability in fire frequency is still poorly understood. The first objective of this study is to identify sources of spatial variability in fire frequency in a landscape of eastern Quebec’s coniferous boreal forest. Broad-scale environmental factors considered included latitude, longitude, human activities and belonging to a given bioclimatic domain, whereas fine-scale factors included slope, position on the slope, aspect, elevation, surficial deposit and drainage. The average distance to waterbodies was also considered as a potential intermediate-scale source of variability in fire frequency. In order to assess these environmental factors’ potential influence, they were incorporated into a proportional hazard model, a semi-parametric form of survival analysis. We also used a digital elevation model in order to evaluate the dominant aspect within neighborhoods of varying sizes and successively incorporated these covariates into the proportional hazard model. We found that longitude significantly affects fire frequency, suggesting a maritime influence on fire frequency in this coastal landscape. We also found that position on the slope was related to fire frequency since hilltops and upperslopes were subject to a lower fire frequency. Dominant aspect was also related to fire frequency, but only when characterized within a neighborhood delimited by 4,000 to 10,000-m radii (5,027–31,416 ha). A 2–6-fold variation in fire frequency can be induced by geographic and topographic contexts, suggesting a substantial intra-regional heterogeneity in disturbance regime with potential consequences on forest dynamics and biodiversity patterns. Implications for forest management are also briefly discussed.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Alexandra Marier, Andréanne Aubin, Andréanne Tousignant, André-Pierre Gagnon, Ingrid Duchesneau Christine Simard and Héloïse Le Goff for assistance and advice during the preparatory stages of this study as well as two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments on an earlier draft. We are also most grateful to the Université du Québec à Montréal, the Sustainable Forest Management Network, the Ministry of Natural Resources of Quebec and Canadian Forest Service for their financial and logistical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre d’Étude de la Forêt, Université du Québec à Montréal, C.P. 8888, Succ. Centre-Ville, Montreal, QC, Canada, H3P 3P8

    Dominic Cyr & Yves Bergeron

  2. Natural Resources Canada – Laurentian Forestry Centre, 1055 rue du P.E.P.S., C.P. 10380, Succ. Sainte-Foy, Quebec, QC, Canada, G1V 4C7

    Sylvie Gauthier

  3. NSERC-UQAT-UQAM Industrial Chair in Sustainable Forest Management, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445, boulevard de l’Université, Rouyn-Noranda, QC, Canada, J9X 5E4

    Yves Bergeron

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  1. Dominic Cyr
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Correspondence to Dominic Cyr.

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Cyr, D., Gauthier, S. & Bergeron, Y. Scale-dependent determinants of heterogeneity in fire frequency in a coniferous boreal forest of eastern Canada. Landscape Ecol 22, 1325–1339 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-007-9109-3

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