Fire in Northeast China forests

Abstract

Fire plays an important role in Northeast China forests. The occurrence of fires is closely related to the environmental characteristics. High temperature, drought, and strong wind in spring (March to July) and autumn (September to November) are common fire climatic characteristics in Northeast China. Based on the chemical and physical characters of fuels, fuel quantity distribution, sites as well as fire potential behaviour, fourteen fuel types have been classified in Northeast China Forest area. The fire adaptation of several main tree species has been also analysed in this paper. These species are widely distributed and of great economic significance in Northeast China. Fire use is paid much more attention recently. Fire have been employed in many silviculture practice such as fireline creation, fuels reduction and seed bed preparation in Northeast China.