Pyrological characteristic of vegetation in forests of Central Yakutia and its dynamics in post-fire period

Abstract

We studied natural pyrological properties of the main forest types in Central Yakutia. The forests of this region have a common high fire danger due to a sharply continental climate and absolute prevalence of light coniferous forests (larch and pine) of a cowberry group. The fire danger of forests depends on the amount and types of vegetable flammable materials. The main conductors of burning in larch forests are dense litter and dry mosses, in pine forests – loose litter and lichens. Regional fire danger scales are plotted according to the types of larch and pine forests. The lichen pine forests and lichen larch forests burn well. They reach maturity fire within 2–3 days after rainfall. We also studied the dynamics of post-fire communities in the forests of Central Yakutia. It is established that significant changes in the vegetation, occurring after the fires, stabilized during successional time as the vegetation overgrew the burnt area. The time changes occur in the direction of formation of the native forest type – the cranberry larch forest.