The Impact of Catastrophic Forest Fires of 2021 on the Light Soils in Central Yakutia

Alexey Desyatkin (), Matrena Okoneshnikova, Pavel Fedorov, Alexandra Ivanova, Nikolay Filippov and Roman Desyatkin
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Alexey Desyatkin: Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Science, Yakutsk 677980, Russia
Matrena Okoneshnikova: Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Science, Yakutsk 677980, Russia
Pavel Fedorov: Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Science, Yakutsk 677980, Russia
Alexandra Ivanova: Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Science, Yakutsk 677980, Russia
Nikolay Filippov: Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Science, Yakutsk 677980, Russia
Roman Desyatkin: Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Science, Yakutsk 677980, Russia

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: This paper presents the results of studying changes in the main parameters and properties of soils in larch and pine forests growing on sandy soils of the Lena-Vilyui interfluve of Central Yakutia, where catastrophic forest fires occurred in 2021. According to the remote monitoring information system of Rosleskhoz, in 2021, almost 8.5 million hectares of forests burned in Yakutia, which is considered as one of the largest forest fires in Russia and in the world in that year. After the fire passes through the forest floor, the content of organic matter decreases as a result of combustion processes. The acidity of the soil changes towards its alkalization due to the entry of combustion products. Changes in soil profiles occur; turbation processes begin more intensively, which in turn change the natural distribution of soil indicator values such as the organic carbon content, the pH, and the number of exchangeable bases. Due to the sharp increase in heat supply after a fire, the depth of seasonal thawing in the soils of burnt larch forests increases by a quarter and by twofold in pine forests. With the beginning of the thawing of the seasonally frozen layer, all the soils experience waterlogging, and ground water occurs above the permafrost.

Keywords: Central Yakutia; forest fire; permafrost; sandy soils (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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