Influence of climatic conditions on forest fires in Central Yakutia

In this article, an analysis of data of forest fires and climatic conditions in Central Yakutia was carried out for the period 2000-2020. The aim of the study is to determine the role of climatic conditions in the forest fires activity. In the study area, the activity of forest fires has greatly increased in recent years. Forest fires can lead to a radical transformation of permafrost landscapes, to their degradation. The total annual burnt areas have noticeably increased since the 2000s. In 2002 and 2011 forest fires covered an area of more than a million hectares. This trend is certainly associated with climate change. So, in Yakutsk, the mean annual air temperature from 2000 to 2020 rose by about 2°C. At the same time, in the last 20 years, a decrease in the amount of summer precipitation has been observed. The study of the dependence of forest fire activity on climatic conditions is important for estimating the consequences caused by climate change in permafrost landscapes. To achieve this goal, an analysis of data on air temperature and rainfall during the fire season was carried out in the work. The accumulation of dry combustible material under the forest canopy depends on these two factors. In turn, this determines whether favorable conditions will be created for the occurrence and spread of forest fires over large areas or not. The paper shows what climatic conditions are typical for the periods with high and low fire activity. We analyzed the climatic conditions of certain years with the maximum and minimum burnt areas for the period under consideration. The fire activity in the study area currently depends on the climatic conditions of the beginning of the fire season. High fire activity is formed at very high air temperatures, however, at the predominant role of the precipitation, more precisely their deficiency. This is the main conclusion of the paper.

1. Dalbinov A.A., Isaev A.P. Reconstruction of forest fires in the 20th century (on the example of Namsky, Khangalassky and Yakutsky forestries) // Forest research in Yakutia: results, state and prospects. - V.1.: Permafrost forest science and forestry. Forest ecology. - Yakutsk: YSU Publishing House, 2006. - P. 100-103 (In Russian)

2. Groisman, P.Ya., Sherstyukov, B.G., Razuvaev, V.N., Knight, R.W., Enloe, J.G., Stroumentova, N.S., Whitfield, P.H., Førland, E., Hannsen-Bauer, I., Tuomenvirta, H., Aleksandersson, H., Mescherskaya, A.V., Karl, T.R., 2007. Potential forest fire danger over Northern Eurasia: changes during the 20th century. Global and Planetary Change 56, 371–386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2006.07.029

3. Hayasaka, H., 2008. Climate changes in tropical and boreal forests and their relation with recent large-scale forest fires. In Proceedings of the international workshop on: Tropical rain forest and boreal forest disturbance and their affects on global warming, 29-30 August, 2007. National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Pp.77-95.

4. Hayasaka, H., Yamazaki, K., Naito, D., 2019. Weather conditions and warm air masses during active fire-periods in boreal forests. Polar Science, Volume 22, Article 100472, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polar.2019.07.002

5. Soja, A.J., Tchebakova, N.M., French, N.H.F., Flannigan, M.D., Shugart, H.H., Stocks, B.J., Sukhinin, A.I., Parfenova, E.I., Stuart Chapin III, F., Stackhouse Jr., P.W., 2007. Climate-induced boreal forest change: predictions versus current observations. Global and Planetary Change 56, 274–296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2006.07.028

6. Kurbatsky N.P. Terminology of forest pyrology // Questions of forest pyrology. - Krasnoyarsk, 1972. - P. 171-230 (In Russian).

7. Vonsky S.M. Intensity of ground forest fires and its practical significance. - Leningrad, 1957. - 52 p. (In Russian).

8. Fedorov A.N., Machimura T., Gerasimov E.Yu., Petrov M.I. et al. Influence of fires on permafrost landscapes in Central Yakutia // Nauka i obrazovanie. - No. 4 - 2008. - P. 64-67 (In Russian).

9. Sugimoto A., Naito D., Yanagisawa N., Ichiyanagi K., Kurita N., Kubota J., Ohata T., Kotake T., Maximov T.C., Fedorov A.N., 2003. Characteristics of soil moisture in permafrost observed in east siberian taiga with stable isotopes of water. Hydrological Processes. V. 17. № 6, 1073-1092. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.1180

10. Soloviev V.S., Kozlov V.I., Mullayarov V.A. Remote monitoring of forest fires and thunderstorms in Yakutia. - Yakutsk: Publishing house of YSC SB RAS, 2009. - 108 p. (In Russian).

11. Beketov N.V. Regional organization of society (geographical aspects of socio-economic complex formation). - Yakutsk: Publishing house of YSU, 1996. - 159 p. (In Russian).

12. Shcherbakov I.P., Zabelin O.F., Karpel B.A. et al. Forest fires in Yakutia and their influence on the nature of the forest / edited by I.P. Shcherbakov. - Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1979. - 226 p. (In Russian).

13. Petrov M.I. Influence of meteorological conditions on forest fires in Central Yakutia // Geocriology - Past, Present, Future: Proceedings of the All-Russian Scientific Youth Forum with International Participation, Dedicated to the 50th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Permafrost Institute. P.I. Melnikov SB RAS / Ed. editor: M.N. Grigoriev, O.I. Alekseeva. - Yakutsk: Publishing House of the Melnikov Permafrost Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2010. - P. 119-123 (In Russian).

14. Fedorov A.N. Permafrost landscapes of Yakutia: Classification and Mapping Approuch. - Yakutsk, 1991. - 140 p. (In Russian).

15. Gavrilova M.K. Climate in Central Yakutia. - Yakutsk: Yakutian book publishing house, 1973. - 2nd edition. – 120 p. (In Russian).

16. Soloviev P.A. Cryolithozone of the northern part of the Lena-Amga interfluve. - M.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1959. - 144 p. (In Russian).

17. Ivanov M.S. Cryogenic structure of the Quaternary deposits of the Lena-Aldan depression. - Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1984. - 125 p. (In Russian).

18. Utkin A.I. Forests of Central Yakutia. – M.: Nauka, 1965. – 208 p. (In Russian).

19. Isaev A.P. Sustainable forests intrapermafrost to anthropogenic factors // Advances in current natural sciences. - No. 11. - 2012. - P. 41-43 (In Russian).

20. Isaev A.P. Natural and anthropogenic dynamics of larch forests in the permafrost zone (on the example of Yakutia): dissertation abstract for the degree of Doctor of Biological Sciences. – Yakutsk, 2011 (In Russian).

21. Iijima, Y., Fedorov, A.N., Park, H., Suzuki, K., Yabuki, H., Maximov, T.C., Ohata, T., 2010. Abrupt increases in soil temperatures following increased precipitation in a permafrost region, Central Lena river basin, Russia. Permafr. Periglac. Process. 21, 30–41. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.662

22. Protopopova V.V., Gabysheva L.P. Occurrence of forest fires in Central Yakutia depending on weather conditions // Modern problems of science and education. - No. 4. - 2015. - P. 513-517 (In Russian).

23. Gabysheva L.P., Isaev A.P. Forest fires impact on microclimatic and soil conditions in the forests of cryolithic zone (Yakutia, North-Eastern Russia) // Sibirskij Lesnoj Zhurnal (Siberian Journal of Forest Science). 2015. N. 6: 96–111.