Spatial and temporal variations in boreal forest fire frequency in northern Alberta
Abstract. Spatial and temporal variations in fire frequency in the boreal forest of Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP) were assessed using forest stand age, fire scar and historical data. I test the hypotheses that (1) fire frequency is higher in jack pine forests and aspen forests than in black spru...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.1997.tb00076.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2699.1997.tb00076.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2699.1997.tb00076.x |
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crwiley:10.1111/j.1365-2699.1997.tb00076.x 2024-09-15T18:40:46+00:00 Spatial and temporal variations in boreal forest fire frequency in northern Alberta Larsen, C. P. S. 1997 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.1997.tb00076.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2699.1997.tb00076.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2699.1997.tb00076.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Journal of Biogeography volume 24, issue 5, page 663-673 ISSN 0305-0270 1365-2699 journal-article 1997 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.1997.tb00076.x 2024-08-27T04:27:49Z Abstract. Spatial and temporal variations in fire frequency in the boreal forest of Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP) were assessed using forest stand age, fire scar and historical data. I test the hypotheses that (1) fire frequency is higher in jack pine forests and aspen forests than in black spruce forests and white spruce forests, (2) these variations in fire frequency can be related to the mean waterbreak distance (MWD) around a site and (3) fire frequency has changed over the past 300 years. The fire cycles (the time required to burn an area equal in size to the entire study area) in jack pine forests (39 years) and in aspen forests (39 years) were significantly shorter than those in black spruce forests (78 years) and in white spruce forests (96 years). The length of the fire cycle varies inversely with the MWD around a site, and the MWD was significantly higher in jack pine and aspen forests than in black or white spruce forests. It is suggested that covariations between soil type and the MWD influence, respectively, variations in forest dominant and fire frequency. A change in fire frequency at 1860 was apparent in the fire history for all of WBNP, the black spruce dominated stands, and the near and medium MWD classes. The fire cycle estimates for these classes were all significantly shorter during the period 1750 to 1859 (fire cycles = 25–49 years) than they were in the period 1860 to 1989 (fire cycles = 59–89 years). The possible roles of changes in climate and aboriginal burning practices in causing the temporal change in fire frequency are discussed. Article in Journal/Newspaper Wood Buffalo Wood Buffalo National Park Wiley Online Library Journal of Biogeography 24 5 663 673 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
description |
Abstract. Spatial and temporal variations in fire frequency in the boreal forest of Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP) were assessed using forest stand age, fire scar and historical data. I test the hypotheses that (1) fire frequency is higher in jack pine forests and aspen forests than in black spruce forests and white spruce forests, (2) these variations in fire frequency can be related to the mean waterbreak distance (MWD) around a site and (3) fire frequency has changed over the past 300 years. The fire cycles (the time required to burn an area equal in size to the entire study area) in jack pine forests (39 years) and in aspen forests (39 years) were significantly shorter than those in black spruce forests (78 years) and in white spruce forests (96 years). The length of the fire cycle varies inversely with the MWD around a site, and the MWD was significantly higher in jack pine and aspen forests than in black or white spruce forests. It is suggested that covariations between soil type and the MWD influence, respectively, variations in forest dominant and fire frequency. A change in fire frequency at 1860 was apparent in the fire history for all of WBNP, the black spruce dominated stands, and the near and medium MWD classes. The fire cycle estimates for these classes were all significantly shorter during the period 1750 to 1859 (fire cycles = 25–49 years) than they were in the period 1860 to 1989 (fire cycles = 59–89 years). The possible roles of changes in climate and aboriginal burning practices in causing the temporal change in fire frequency are discussed. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Larsen, C. P. S. |
spellingShingle |
Larsen, C. P. S. Spatial and temporal variations in boreal forest fire frequency in northern Alberta |
author_facet |
Larsen, C. P. S. |
author_sort |
Larsen, C. P. S. |
title |
Spatial and temporal variations in boreal forest fire frequency in northern Alberta |
title_short |
Spatial and temporal variations in boreal forest fire frequency in northern Alberta |
title_full |
Spatial and temporal variations in boreal forest fire frequency in northern Alberta |
title_fullStr |
Spatial and temporal variations in boreal forest fire frequency in northern Alberta |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatial and temporal variations in boreal forest fire frequency in northern Alberta |
title_sort |
spatial and temporal variations in boreal forest fire frequency in northern alberta |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
1997 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.1997.tb00076.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2699.1997.tb00076.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2699.1997.tb00076.x |
genre |
Wood Buffalo Wood Buffalo National Park |
genre_facet |
Wood Buffalo Wood Buffalo National Park |
op_source |
Journal of Biogeography volume 24, issue 5, page 663-673 ISSN 0305-0270 1365-2699 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.1997.tb00076.x |
container_title |
Journal of Biogeography |
container_volume |
24 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
663 |
op_container_end_page |
673 |
_version_ |
1810485167956951040 |