Introduction to the Objectives and Design of the Bor Forest Island Fire Experiment, Fire Research Campaign Asia-North (FIRESCAN)
S1.09-00 Forest Fire Research
Theme: East-West Interdisciplinary Boreal Forest Fire Experiment, Part 1
Moderator: J.G. Goldammer
7.8.1995 16:30 Room: U16
Introduction to the Objectives and Design of the Bor Forest Island Fire Experiment, Fire Research Campaign Asia-North (FIRESCAN)
Goldammer, Johann G.
Fire is an important natural and anthropogenic factor in the dynamics of the boreal forest system. The ecological and environmental impacts of boreal fires depend on fire weather, fuel availability, fire behaviour and history of stand development (frequency and size of fires and other biotic and abiotic disturbances, influence of surrounding landscape on successional developments). About 70 % of the global boreal forest is in Eurasia, almost all of it in the Russian Federation. It is estimated that in years with high fire danger up to ca. 10 million ha of forest and other land in the Russian Federation are affected by fire. The demand for reliable information on the role of natural and anthropogenic fire and the necessity to develop adequate fire management systems is basically due to globally increasing concerns about (1) impacts of boreal wildfires on atmosphere and climate, (2) changing utilization and ecologically destructive practices in boreal forestry, and (3) possible consequences of global climate change on the boreal forest system.
In 1993 a conference on Fire in Ecosystems of Boreal Eurasia and a subsequent Fire Research Campaign Asia-North (FIRESCAN) were organized in tandem in the Krasnoyarsk Region, Central Siberia. The research campaign is designed to investigate hypotheses developed by the International Boreal Forest Research Association (IBFRA), Stand Replacement Fire Working Group. These hypotheses are related to quantitatively understanding boreal ecosystems, the role of fire in boreal ecosystems, and modeling and predicting forest dynamics. The involvement of atmospheric scientists through the structures of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Project, a core project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), gave additional insights into aspects of fire emissions and atmospheric chemistry. On 6 July 1993 an experimental forest fire was set on Bor Forest Island, Krasnoyarsk Region. The design of the fire experiment will be presented and the medium- to long-term objectives of follow-up research described. The final results of the experiment will be presented by the groups responsible for specific tasks in the experiment. Extracts of the film “The Fire Experiment” will be shown.
Key words: fire research, boreal forest, stand-replacement fire.
Correspondence: Johann Georg Goldammer, Max Planck Instutute for Chemistry, Biogeochemistry Department, Fire Ecology Research Group, c/o Freiburg University, P.O.Box, D-79085 Freiburg, Germany
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