Fire, Climate Change, and Carbon Cycling in the Boreal Forest

1. Spatial Data Sets for the Analysis of Carbon Dynamics in Boreal Forests

   1. Using Visible and Near-Infrared Satellite Imagery to Monitor Boreal Forests

      • Frank J. Ahern, Helmut Epp, Donald R. Cahoon Jr., Nancy H. F. French, Eric S. Kasischke, Jeffery L. Michalek

      Pages 312-330

   2. Monitoring Boreal Forests by Using Imaging Radars

      • Eric S. Kasischke, Laura L. Bourgeau-Chavez, Nancy H. F. French, Peter A. Harrell

      Pages 331-346

2. Modeling of Fire and Ecosystem Processes and the Effects of Climate Change on Carbon Cycling in Boreal Forests

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 347-355

      PDF

   2. Modeling of Fire Occurrence in the Boreal Forest Region of Canada

      • Kerry Anderson, David L. Martell, Michael D. Flannigan, Dongmei Wang

      Pages 357-367

   3. Climate Change and Forest Fire Activity in North American Boreal Forests

      • Brian J. Stocks, Michael A. Fosberg, Michael B. Wotton, Timothy J. Lynham, Kevin C. Ryan

      Pages 368-376

   4. Carbon Release from Fires in the North American Boreal Forest

      • Nancy H. F. French, Eric S. Kasischke, Brian J. Stocks, James P. Mudd, David L. Martell, Bryan S. Lee

      Pages 377-388

   5. Ecological Models of the Dynamics of Boreal Landscapes

      • Herman H. Shugart, Donald F. Clark, Amber J. Hill

      Pages 389-405

   6. Using Satellite Data to Monitor Fire-Related Processes in Boreal Forests

      • Eric S. Kasischke, Nancy H. F. French, Laura L. Bourgeau-Chavez, Jeffery L. Michalek

      Pages 406-422

   7. Influences of Fire and Climate Change on Patterns of Carbon Emissions in Boreal Peatlands

      • Leslie A. Morrissey, Gerald P. Livingston, Steven C. Zoltai

      Pages 423-439

   8. Effects of Climate Change and Fire on Carbon Storage in North American Boreal Forests

      • Eric S. Kasischke

      Pages 440-452

3. Back Matter

   Pages 453-464

   PDF

In boreal forests, which contain large amounts of the world's terrestrial organic carbon, fire is a natural and fundamental disturbance regime essential in controlling many ecosystem processes. As a result of predicted climate change in the future, the fire regime and, consequently, the forest cover and carbon storage of boreal regions will undergo dramatic alterations. This volume discusses the direct and indirect mechanisms by which fire and climate interact to influence carbon cycling in North American boreal forests. The first section summarizes the information needed to understand and manage fire's effects on the ecology of boreal forests and its influence on global climate change issues. Following chapters discuss in detail the role of fire in the ecology of boreal forests. Subsequent sections present data sets on fire and the distribution of carbon, discuss the use of satellite imagery in monitoring these regions and discuss approaches to modeling the relevant processes. The book offers the following new results: improved estimates of carbon released during fires at a variety of scales, from individual sites to the entire North American boreal forest region; direct evidence of enhanced soil respiration after fire in Alaskan boreal forests; studies of the influence of fire on long-term forest-succession patterns; modeling results of the effects of climate warming on the fire regime; examples of the use of satellite imagery to monitor surface characteristics important in carbon cycling; modeling results of how climate change will interact with the fire regime to influence carbon storage.

• Scale
• Vegetation
• atmosphere
• biomass
• carbon
• chemistry
• climate change
• cyclin
• decomposition
• ecology
• ecosystem
• ecosystem processes
• forest
• global climate change
• satellite

• Environmental Research Institute of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

  Eric S. Kasischke

• Canadian Forest Service—Ontario Region, Sault Ste. Marie, Canada

  Brian J. Stocks

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