Retrospective Analysis of Natural Fire Regimes in Landscapes of Eastern Fennoscandia and Problems in Their Anthropogenic Transformation

Abstract

The problem of forest fires has long been extensively dealt with in the scientific literature (Melekhov 1948; Sukachev 1975; Vakurov 1975; Spurr and Barnes 1984; and many others). However, it remains a pressing issue, especially in connection with the hot debate which arose between ecologists and economists, and which has even been discussed in the foreign news media in recent years (Abel 1985; Anonymus 1988). Nowadays, most forest ecologists consider fire to be one of the main ecological factors responsible for the structure and dynamics of the biotic components of taiga landscape, primarily natural forests. An analysis of the literature shows, however, that systematized data on fires were obtained either by dating fire scars on trees or by studying the archives. In the former case, a retrospective analysis of fire regime is usually restricted to 250–300 years (the age of the older tree generation); in the latter, a general analysis is made when only big fires are considered, without specifying areas and habitats. However, to assess the effect of fires on natural forests, detailed data covering a period of thousands of years should be collected with regard for area and the types of growth conditions under which forest-forming species develop. As well, patterns of the pyrogenic factor were discussed, with few exceptions (Furyaev and Kireyev 1979), regardless of forest landscape structure. It is impossible, however, to agree with the above authors, who argue that the problem of forest fires cannot be resolved for an individual biogeocenosis because a landscape basis is needed.