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Wildfire Ecology in Continuous Permafrost Zone

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Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 209))

Abstract

Climatic conditions are ecologically the most important factors influencing the differentiation and character of the vegetation cover at a global scale (Archibold 1995). In particular, fluctuations in climate and weather during drought periods affect vegetation both directly and indirectly through factors such as those related to forest fires.

Characteristics of permafrost and vegetation vary considerably in Siberia, creating quite heterogeneous environments in this region. For instance, the depth of soil active layer often reaches 2 m or more in the summer in the southern part of the permafrost zone. Interactions among permafrost, vegetation, and wildfire are not so obvious. On the other hand, in the northern part of the permafrost zone, the soil usually thaws to 0.3-0.6 m in depth. The mutual influence among the permafrost, vegetation, and wildfires is strong due, for example, to dominance of fire-prone plant species over a permafrost soil, resulting in the development of unique forest ecosystems. Thickness of tree’s root layer and the root volume per unit of ground are both small, leading to thin tree canopies. These characteristics suggest us to categorize the forests on permafrost soil differently from the taiga forests to the south of the region. Therefore, forests on the permafrost should be considered an independent biome (Kolesnikov 1969; Parmuzin 1979; Sofronov 1991a; Sofronov and Abaimov 1991).

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Sofronov, M.A., Volokitina, A.V. (2010). Wildfire Ecology in Continuous Permafrost Zone. In: Osawa, A., Zyryanova, O., Matsuura, Y., Kajimoto, T., Wein, R. (eds) Permafrost Ecosystems. Ecological Studies, vol 209. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9693-8_4

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