Decadal‐Scale Recovery of Carbon Stocks After Wildfires Throughout the Boreal Forests

Palviainen, Marjo; Laurén, Ari; Pumpanen, Jukka; Bergeron, Yves; Bond‐Lamberty, Ben; Larjavaara, Markku; Kashian, Daniel M.; Köster, Egle; Prokushkin, Anatoly; Chen, Han Y. H.; Seedre, Meelis; Wardle, David A.; Gundale, Michael J.; Nilsson, Marie‐Charlotte; Wang, C.; Berninger, Frank

doi:10.1029/2020gb006612

Cited by 23 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 100 publications

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“…Rather, we suggest that the decrease is a result of postfire buildup of organic topsoil over time. Such soil buildup is known to be rather fast (Cutler et al, 2017;Palviainen et al, 2020), and due to the time passed since the last period of frequent fires in our study landscape, which occurred between the 17th and 19th centuries (see Storaunet et al, 2013), it is reasonable to believe that a postfire buildup of organic soil is the main explanation for the decrease in the charcoal C proportion over time. Nonpyrogenic organic matter degrades at decadal time scales in boreal forest soils (Hyväluoma et al, 2022), and the mean total ecosystem turnover time of C in the boreal forest biome is estimated to be 53 years (Carvalhais et al, 2014).…”

Section: Proportion Of Charcoal C In Relation To Historic Fire Regimesmentioning

confidence: 74%

Proportion of charcoal carbon in the forest floor carbon pool in relation to fire history in a boreal forest landscape

Haukenes,

Asplund,

Åsgård

et al. 2023

Ecosphere

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Fire in the boreal forests emits substantial amounts of organically bound carbon (C) to the atmosphere and converts a fraction of the burnt organic matter into charcoal, which in turn is highly refractory and functions as a long‐term stable C pool. It is well established that the boreal forest charcoal pool is sufficiently large to play a significant role in the global C cycle. However, there is a need for spatially representative estimates of how large proportions of the forest floor C pool are made up of charcoal across different plant communities in the boreal forest ecosystem. Thus, we have quantified the amounts of C separately in charcoal and the organic layers of the forest floor across fine spatial scales in a boreal forest landscape with a well‐documented fire history. We found that the proportion of charcoal C made up an average of 1.2% of the total forest floor C, and the charcoal proportions showed a high small‐scale spatial variability and were concentrated in the organic–mineral soil interface. Proportions of charcoal C decreased with increasing time since last fire. Deeper soils, denser soils, and local concave areas had the highest proportions of charcoal C, whereas historical fire frequencies and current differences in vegetation did not relate to the proportions of charcoal C.

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Section: Proportion Of Charcoal C In Relation To Historic Fire Regimesmentioning

confidence: 74%

Proportion of charcoal carbon in the forest floor carbon pool in relation to fire history in a boreal forest landscape

Haukenes,

Asplund,

Åsgård

et al. 2023

Ecosphere

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“…The same region has also seen a substantial intensification in fire occurrence, with the fire return interval falling from 101 years in the 19th century to 65 years in the 20th century for larch‐dominant forest stands (Kharuk et al., 2008). Increased recurrence of wildfires is reducing the carbon stocks of affected boreal forest sites (Palviainen et al., 2020), altering soil and permafrost regimes (Gibson et al., 2018), changing dominant species compositions (Baltzer et al., 2021; Mack et al., 2021), and in some cases leading to post‐fire “regeneration failure” (Burrell et al., 2021). Forest area burned has correspondingly increased across Siberia based on data from multiple sources (Soja et al., 2007).…”

Section: Global Candidate Tipping Elementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms and Impacts of Earth System Tipping Elements

Wang

Foster

Lenz

et al. 2023

Reviews of Geophysics

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Tipping elements are components of the Earth system which may respond nonlinearly to anthropogenic climate change by transitioning toward substantially different long-term states upon passing key thresholds or "tipping points." In some cases, such changes could produce additional greenhouse gas emissions or radiative forcing that could compound global warming. Improved understanding of tipping elements is important for predicting future climate risks and their impacts. Here we review mechanisms, predictions, impacts, and knowledge gaps associated with 10 notable Earth system components proposed to be tipping elements. We evaluate which tipping elements are approaching critical thresholds and whether shifts may manifest rapidly or over longer timescales. Some tipping elements have a higher risk of crossing tipping points under middle-of-the-road emissions pathways and will possibly affect major ecosystems, climate patterns, and/or carbon cycling within the 21st century. However, literature assessing different emissions scenarios indicates a strong potential to reduce impacts associated with many tipping elements through climate change mitigation. The studies synthesized in our review suggest most tipping elements do not possess the potential for abrupt future change within years, and some proposed tipping elements may not exhibit tipping behavior, rather responding more predictably and directly to the magnitude of forcing. Nevertheless, uncertainties remain associated with many tipping elements, highlighting an acute need for further research and modeling to better constrain risks. Plain Language SummaryIn recent years, discussions of climate change have shown growing interest in "tipping elements" of the Earth system, also imprecisely referred to as "tipping points." This refers to Earth system components like the tropical rainforests of Amazonia or the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets which may exhibit large-scale, long-term changes upon reaching critical global warming, greenhouse gas, or other thresholds. Once such thresholds are passed, some tipping elements could in turn produce additional greenhouse gas emissions or change the Earth's energy balance in ways that moderately reinforce warming. In this review, we summarize the current state of scientific knowledge on 10 systems that some have referred to as potential tipping elements of the climate system. We describe the mechanisms important to each system, highlight the response of these systems to climate change so far, and explain the dynamics of potential future changes that these systems could undergo in response to further climate change. Overall, even considering remaining scientific uncertainties, tipping elements will influence future climate change and may involve major impacts on ecosystems, climate patterns, and the carbon cycle starting later this century. Aggressive efforts to stabilize climate change could significantly reduce such impacts.

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“…In the NR ecoregion, our results are consistent with those of Stevens-Rumann et al, 2020 [49], as they show reduction of standing trees during the first 24 years postfire from both stands replacing (high severity) and non-replacing fires (low to moderate severity). The greater the distance to seed sources, can further reduce the postfire vegetation establishment [50]. The higher recovery rates associated with larger fire sizes may represent faster vegetation regeneration due to increased light resources and nutrient availability.…”

Section: Postfire Vegetation Recovery Trajectorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Postfire recovery of western US conifer forests (1984-2017) using space-borne lidar data

Ilangakoon

Balch

Nagy

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Coniferous forests account for 78% of the western US forests and store a substantial amount of carbon. Wildfires significantly alter vegetation structure, and hence the forest carbon stock. This study evaluates post-fire vegetation recovery trajectories and rates across the western US using recently launched Global Ecosystem Dynamic Investigations (GEDI) mission lidar data. Three ecoregions studied here, the Pacific Northwest, Southern Rockies, and Northern Rockies, show fire severity and ecoregion specific recovery trajectories for canopy height (CH), plant area index (PAI), and the foliage height diversity (FHD). The recovery trajectories are characterized by an initial decline in vegetation structure (CH, PAI, and FHD) during the first 9-25 years postfire followed by a gain of the structure. Regions of low burn severity can fully recover to the unburned background state within the first three decades while the high burn severity regions may recover in the first century, but only in the absence of fires within this period. The PNW exhibits the slowest recovery rate. According to our results, all three ecoregions feature a loss of growing stock volume (GSV) (-1% - -48%). Time since fire, fire severity, and altitude were identified as the most significant drivers of postfire vegetation recovery, likely because they integrate the distance to seed source, vegetation composition, and the local climate. Our study suggests that, if fire return intervals become shorter than 50 years, these three ecoregions will have significantly reduced their woody vegetation, hence the carbon stocks. In addition, all the ecoregions studied here exhibit extensive impacts from other disturbances such as beetle invasion. It is therefore important to consider the effects of compound disturbances on vegetation recovery trajectories to infer the future carbon potential in these ecosystems.

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Decadal‐Scale Recovery of Carbon Stocks After Wildfires Throughout the Boreal Forests

Cited by 23 publications

References 100 publications

Proportion of charcoal carbon in the forest floor carbon pool in relation to fire history in a boreal forest landscape

Proportion of charcoal carbon in the forest floor carbon pool in relation to fire history in a boreal forest landscape

Mechanisms and Impacts of Earth System Tipping Elements

Postfire recovery of western US conifer forests (1984-2017) using space-borne lidar data

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