The Impact of Wildfires on Soil CO 2 Emission in Middle Taiga Forests in Central Siberia

Anastasia Makhnykina (), Alexey Panov and Anatoly Prokushkin ()
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Anastasia Makhnykina: Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
Alexey Panov: Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
Anatoly Prokushkin: Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-13

Abstract: Boreal forest ecosystems are regions vulnerable to climate change. Such areas act as the main atmospheric carbon sinks in the world. Wildfires are among the drivers of ecosystem modification and functioning. Boreal wildfires emit an annual average of about 10% of global fire emissions. Taking into account recent climate warming and increases in the frequency of wildfires, boreal forests might switch their functional role from carbon sink to an additional source of atmospheric carbon. Soil respiration is the second largest component of the global carbon cycle and is highly sensitive to disturbance factors, including wildfires. To study the effect of wildfires on soil CO 2 emission rates, the fire chronosequence was investigated. During the first few years following the fire, the soil CO 2 emission rates were lower compared with the usual levels. It was found that 23 years after a fire, the site demonstrated transition behavior in soil emission rates between disturbed and completely recovered areas. The emission rates at the earliest successional stages are mainly controlled by soil moisture during the summer period. For the other successional stages, soil temperature had a huge impact on soil emission.

Keywords: forest fire; soil emission; boreal forest; disturbances; Siberia; climate change; carbon cycle (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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