The Role of Fire in Forest Cover, Structure, and Dynamics in the Russian Far East

Abstract

The influence of fire on forest status and development is covered extensively in the literature. Much valuable research has covered this at the level of forest type groups and smaller units (e.g., Telitsyn 1988; Valendik 1990; Sheshukov et al. 1992). Fire influences on forest cover units larger than forest stands are described in less detail in terms of burning mechanisms, general trends, and evaluation of losses. At the level of large forest cover units, the effects of fire are more diverse than on the levels of biogeocenosis, parcel, or individual plant (Furyaev 1978). At the level of the biogeocenosis and below, forest fires are generally episodic and catastrophic events causing total removal of vegetation. At the level of the forest tract and higher, at least in the Far East region of Siberia, fire should be considered an inevitable factor in forest development and structure.