Abstract
Spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation fires in the Russian part of Altai-Sayan region over the period of instrumental satellite observations (1996–2014) have been studied. The distribution of fires by landscape categories, natural zones, altitudinal belts, and terrain profile forms is presented. We estimate the confinement of fire development in forests dominated by dark coniferous, light coniferous, and deciduous forest stands. The results are standardized taking into account the ratio between plant-cover areas of the selected categories, classes, and zones in the region. We have found an exponential decrease in the number of fires in the area of transition from plains and lowlands to highlands. Middle mountains are characterized by the largest burnt areas. Up to 50% of all fires are observed in the northern and adjacent slopes. The fire occurrence on concave slopes is 40% higher than that on convex slopes. The logarithmic growth in the number of burnt areas and fire frequency was found for all natural zones (forest, steppe, and forest steppe); the greatest seasonal variability in fire frequency and fire statistics is observed in the forest-steppe zone of the region. It is shown that the spatial distribution of fires is in agreement with the selected climatic facies. On the whole, the long-term dynamics of forest burning in the Altai-Sayan region and Siberia is strongly related to the variation of meteorological parameters characterizing climatic changes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arbatskaya, M.K. and Vaganov, E.A., Multi-year variability of the frequency of wildfires and pine growth in the middle subarea of Middle Siberia, Ekologiya, 1997, no. 5, pp. 330–336.
Bartalev, S.A., Ershov, D.V., Isaev, A.S., Potapov, P.V., Turubanova, S.A., and Yaroshenko, A.Y., Russia’s forests: Dominant forest types and their canopy density, Map, Scale 1: 14000000, Moscow: Space Research Institute, RAS, 2004.
Bartalev, S.A., Egorov, V.A., Ershov, D.V., Isaev, A.S., Lupyan, E.A., Plotnikov, D.E., and Uvarov, I.A., Satellite mapping of vegetation cover in Russia according to MODIS spectroradiometer data, Sovrem. Probl. Distantsionnogo Zondirovaniya Zemli Kosmosa, 2011, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 258–302.
Conard, S.G., Sukhinin, A.I., Stocks, B.J., Cahoon, D.R., Davidenko, E.P., and Ivanova, G.A., Determining effects of area burned and fire severity on carbon cycling and emissions in Siberia, Clim. Change, 2002, vol. 55, nos. 1–2, pp. 197–211.
Drobushevskaya, O.V. and Nazimova, D.I., Climatic variants of light coniferous low-mountain subtaiga in Southern Siberia, Geogr. Prir. Resur., 2006, no. 2, pp. 21–27.
Fire in Ecosystems of Boreal Eurasia: The Bor Forest Island Fire Experiment Fire Research Campaign Asia-North (FIRESCAN), Levine, J.S., Ed., Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997.
Furyaev, V.V., Zablotskii, V.I., Chernykh, V.A., Samsonenko, S.D., and Zlobina, L.P., Problema lesnykh i stepnykh pozharov v Altae-Sayanskom ekoregione (The Problem of Forest and Steppe Fires in the Altai–Sayan Ecological Region), Krasnoyarsk: Institut lesa im. V. N. Sukacheva SORAN, 2007. http://www.ustoichivo. ru/i/docs/60/23.doc.
Gillett, N.P., Weaver, A.J., Zwiers, F.W., and Flannigan, M.D., Detecting the effect of climate change on Canadian forest fires, Geophys. Res. Lett., 2004, vol. 31, 18211. doi 10.1029/2004GL020876
Harris, I., Jones, P.D., Osborn, T.J., and Lister, D.H., Updated high-resolution grids of monthly climatic observations—the CRU TS3.10 dataset, Int. J. Climatol., 2014, no. 34, pp. 623–642.
IPCC, Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Stocker, T.F., Qin, D., Plattner, G.-K., Tignor, M., Allen, S.K., Boschung, J., Nauels, A., Xia, Y., Bex, V., and Midgley, P.M., Eds., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Izmenenie klimata i ego vozdeistvie na ekosistemy, naselenie i khozyaistvo rossiiskoi chasti Altae-Sayanskogo ekoregiona: Otsenochnyi doklad (Climate Change and Its Impact on the Ecosystem, Polpulation, and Economy of the Russian Part of the Altai–Sayan Ecological Region: Assessment Report), Kokorin, A.O., Ed., Moscow: Vsemirnyi fond dikoi prirody Rossii, 2011.
Kasischke, E.S., Verbyla, D., Rupp, T.S., McGuire, A.D., Murphy, K.A., Allen, J.L., et al., Alaska’s changing fire regime: Implications for the vulnerability of its boreal forests, Can. J. Forest Res., 2010, vol. 40, pp. 1313–1324.
Kaufman, Y.J., Kleidman, R.G., and King, M.D., SCAR-B fires in the tropics: Properties and remote sensing from EOS-MODIS, J. Geophys. Res., 1998, vol. 103, no. D24, pp. 31955–31968.
Kharlamova, N.F. and Ostina, O.V., Description of the current thermal regime of the Russian part of the Altai–Sayan ecological region, Izv. Altai. Gos. Univ., 2013, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 117–122.
Kharuk, V.I., Kasischke, E.S., and Yakubailik, O.E., The spatial and temporal distribution of fires on Sakhalin Island, Russia, Int. J. Wildland Fire, 2007, no. 16, pp. 556–562.
Kharuk, V.I., Dvinskaya, M.L., Im, S.T., and Ranson, K.J., Tree vegetation of the forest-tundra ecotone in the Western Sayan Mountains and climatic trends, Russ. J. Ecol., 2008a, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 8–13.
Kharuk, V.I., Ranson, K.J., and Dvinskaya, M.L., Wildfires dynamic in the larch dominance zone, Geophys. Res. Lett., 2008b, vol. 35, L01402. doi 10.1029/2007GL032291
Kharuk, V.I., Ranson, K.J., Im, S.T., and Vdovin, A.S., Spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of high-elevation forest stands in Southern Siberia, Global Ecol. Biogeogr., 2010a, vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 822–830.
Kharuk, V.I., Im, S.T., and Dvinskaya, M.L., Forest–tundra ecotone response to climate change in the Western Sayan Mountains, Siberia, Scand. J. Forest Res., 2010b, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 224–233. doi 10.1080/02827581003766959
Mikhailov, N.I., Gory Yuzhnoi Sibiri (Mountains of Southern Siberia), Moscow: Geografgiz, 1961.
Mokeev, G.A., Influence of natural and economic conditions on the frequency of forest fires and their protection from fires, in Sovremennye voprosy okhrany lesov ot pozharov i bor’by s nimi (Current Issues of Forest Protection from Fires and Their Prevention), Moscow: Lesnaya promyshlennost’, 1965, pp. 26–37.
Osnovnye pokazateli lesokhozyaistvennoi deyatel’nosti. Okhrana i zashchita lesov (Main Indicators of Forestry Activities: Protection of Forests), Roslesinforg. 2008.
Polikarpov, N.P., Chebakova, N.M., and Nazimova, D.I., Klimat i gornye lesa Yuzhnoi Sibiri (The Climate and Mountainous Forests in Southern Siberia), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1986.
Ponomarev, E.I. and Shvetsov, E.G., Description of the categories of vegetation fires in Siberia according to satellite and other observational data, Issled. Zemli Kosmosa, 2013, no. 5, pp. 45–54.
Samoilova, G.S., Veselovskii, A.V., Makhanova, T.M., and Plate, A.N., Landscape Map of the Altai–Sayan Ecological Region, Scale 1: 2235000, Moscow, 2003.
Shvetsov, E.G. and Ponomarev, E.I., Estimating the influence of external environmental factors on fire radiative power using satellite imagery, Contemp. Probl. Ecol., 2015, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 337–343. doi 10.1134/S1995425515030142
Shvidenko, A.Z., Shchepashchenko, D.G., Vaganov, E.A., Sukhinin, A.I., Maksyutov, Sh.Sh., Kallum, I., and Lakida, I.P., Impact of wildfire in Russia between 1998–2010 on ecosystems and the global carbon budget, Dokl. Earth Sci., 2011, vol. 441, no. 2, pp. 1678–1682.
Smagin, V.N., Il’inskaya, S.A., Nazimova, D.I., Novosel’tseva, I.F., and Cherednikova, Yu.S., Tipy lesov gor Yuzhnoi Sibiri (Forest Types in Mountains of Southern Siberia), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1980.
Sofronov, M.A., Lesnye pozhary v gorakh Yuzhnoi Sibiri (Forest Fires in Mountains of Southern Siberia), Moscow: Nauka, 1967.
Sofronov, M.A. and Volokitina, A.V., Pirologicheskoe raionirovanie v taezhnoi zone (Pyrological Demarcation in the Taiga Zone), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1990.
Sofronov, M.A., Volokitina, A.V., and Sofronova, T.M., Pozhary v gornykh lesakh (Fires in Mountainous Forests), Krasnoyarsk, 2008.
Stolbovoi, V. and McCallum, I., Land Resources of Russia (CD-ROM), Laxenburg, Austria: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2002. Strategiya po snizheniyu pozharnoi opasnosti na OOPT Altae–Sayanskogo ekoregiona (The Strategy of Fire Danger Reduction in the SPNR of the Altai–Sayan Ecological Region), Onuchin, A.A., Ed., Novosibirsk: SO RAN, 2013.
Sukhinin, A.I., Space monitoring and analysis of catastrophic fires in Central Siberia and Far East, in North- East Asia: A la Carte, Tohoku: Center for North-East Asian Studies, Tohoku University, 2008, vol. 19, pp. 19–23.
Valendik, E.N., Bor’ba s krupnymi lesnymi pozharami (Prevention of Large Forest Fires), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1990.
Valendik, E.N., Greibill, D.A., Ivanova, G.A., and Shiyatov, S.G., Reconstruction of climatic conditions and history of fires in mountainous forests of Middle Siberia, Lesovedenie, 1993, no. 3, pp. 34–40.
Valendik, E.N., Vekshin, V.N., Ivanova, G.A., Kisilyakhov, E.K., Perevoznikova, V.D., Bryukhanov, A.V., Bychkov, V.A., and Verkhovets, S.V., Kontroliruemye vyzhiganiya na vyrubkakh v gornykh lesakh (Controlled Burnings of Cutover Areas in Mountainous Forests), Novosibirsk: SO RAN, 2001.
Vicente-Serrano, S.M., Beguería, S., and López-Moreno, J.I., A multi-scalar drought index sensitive to global warming: The standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index—SPEI, J. Clim., 2010, no. 23, pp. 1696–1718.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © E.I. Ponomarev, E.G. Shvetsov, V.I. Kharuk, 2015, published in Geofizicheskie Protsessy i Biosfera, 2015, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 5–21.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ponomarev, E.I., Shvetsov, E.G. & Kharuk, V.I. Fires in the Altai-Sayan region: Landscape and ecological confinement. Izv. Atmos. Ocean. Phys. 52, 725–736 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001433816070069
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001433816070069