Occurrence of fires in the eastern Saariselkä area, north-west Russia

The occurrence of fires was studied in the eastern Saariselkä area, North-West Russia, by using satellite images and topographical maps. In total, more than 330 burned areas were pinpointed in the study area of 4770 km2. Old burns were concentrated in the eastern part of the study area, but young b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Silva Fennica
Main Author: Kauhanen, Heikki
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Finnish Society of Forest Science 2002
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.569
https://doaj.org/article/6250e6a28ca44943b7a7f2ff28f047a1
Description
Summary:The occurrence of fires was studied in the eastern Saariselkä area, North-West Russia, by using satellite images and topographical maps. In total, more than 330 burned areas were pinpointed in the study area of 4770 km2. Old burns were concentrated in the eastern part of the study area, but young burns were more common in the west. Sites affected by fires in the more recent past were much smaller than those burnt over earlier. The abundance of burns along rivers and the border surveillance road provided evidence of human impact. The most significant changes in the landscape were found in the eastern part of the study area, where spruce forests had been replaced by birch woodlands.