Journal of Siberian Federal University. Biology / Dendroindication of Past Fires in the Upper Reaches of the Aktru River (the Altai Mountains)

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Issue
Journal of Siberian Federal University. Biology. 2022 15 (2)
Authors
Nikolaeva, Svetlana A.; Savchuk, Dmitry A.; Kuznetsov, Alexander S.; Timoshok, Elena E.
Contact information
Nikolaeva, Svetlana A.: Institute of Monitoring of Climatic and Ecological Systems SB RAS Tomsk, Russian Federation; ; Kuznetsov, Alexander S.: Institute of Monitoring of Climatic and Ecological Systems SB RAS Tomsk, Russian Federation; ORCID: 0000-0002-5478-7385; Timoshok, Elena E.: Institute of Monitoring of Climatic and Ecological Systems SB RAS Tomsk, Russian Federation; ORCID: 0000-0001-7418-6336
Keywords
fire; dendroindication; dating; scar; tree ring; traumatic resin duct; charcoal; Siberian stone pine; Siberian larch; Altai Mountains
Abstract

One of the factors in the transformation of forests in the Altai Mountains is fires, information about which is scarce and scattered. Therefore, indirect methods of dating the past fires are of great importance, and dendroindication methods are the most promising among them. The purpose of the study was dendroindication identification and dating of past fires in the forests in the upper reaches of the Aktru River (Severo-Chuisky Range, the Russian Altai Mountains). In this study, a set of dendroindication markers and the location of charcoals in the soil were used. Each marker had its own dating accuracy, from 1–2 years to several decades. Nevertheless, none of the markers, if it occurs singly, provides a reliably exact date of the fire event. When the same marker occurs repeatedly or different singly occurring markers appear simultaneously, the event can be considered more or less reliably dated. Forests in the upper reaches of the Aktru River are formed by Siberian stone pine (Pinus sibirica Du Tour) and Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.). No markers of past fires were found in the old-growth forests on the valley slopes and forests on fluvioglacial deposits, with the exception of one old-growth Siberian stone pine forest. In post-fire forests, the dates of fires and the most probable fire periods of the past were established: 2012, 2008, 2003, 1974, 1970, 1933, 1923, the early 20th, late 19th, 18th, 17th, and the second half of the 16th centuries. Large-scale fires occurred at the end or in the second half of each of the last five centuries, i.e. once a century. Large-scale fires of 1974 and the late 19th century were primarily caused by the weather and climatic conditions of the growing seasons of the corresponding years. The results of the study on dating the past fires will be useful for assessing fire activity in the Altai Mountains – the region poorly studied in this regard

Pages
221–243
DOI
10.17516/1997-1389-0384
Paper at repository of SibFU
https://elib.sfu-kras.ru/handle/2311/147498

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