Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Post-fire Recruitment Failure as a Driver of Forest to Non-forest Ecosystem Shifts in Boreal Regions

Burrell, A; Kukavskaya, E; Baxter, R; Sun, Q; Barrett, K

Post-fire Recruitment Failure as a Driver of Forest to Non-forest Ecosystem Shifts in Boreal Regions Thumbnail


Authors

A Burrell

E Kukavskaya

Q Sun

K Barrett



Contributors

JG Canadell
Editor

RB Jackson
Editor

Abstract

Climate change and land-use are driving large changes in forest ecosystems around the globe. In the boreal biome it is likely that increases in temperature and the associated lengthening of the growing season will cause the forest to expand into the northern tundra and upwards in elevation, whilst potentially contracting at its southern limits. This increase in temperature is also driving an increase in the frequency and severity of boreal forest fires. A growing number of studies have observed the failure of forest species to re-establish after a standreplacing fire event, which results in the shift to a non-forested ecosystem. In this chapter, this process is referred to as post-fire recruitment failure. We provide multiple lines of evidence for boreal forests, and more specifically for southern Siberia forests, that a possible regional tipping point is unfolding, which could lead to the rapid replacement of large areas of forest ecosystems with low-stature non-forest ecosystems. This change would come with significant consequences for the carbon balance, surface albedo and the resulting altered energy balance

Citation

Burrell, A., Kukavskaya, E., Baxter, R., Sun, Q., & Barrett, K. (2021). Post-fire Recruitment Failure as a Driver of Forest to Non-forest Ecosystem Shifts in Boreal Regions. In J. Canadell, & R. Jackson (Eds.), Ecosystem Collapse and Climate Change (69-100). (1). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71330-0_4

Online Publication Date Jun 20, 2021
Publication Date Jun 20, 2021
Deposit Date Jul 30, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Publisher Springer Verlag
Pages 69-100
Series Title Ecological Studies
Series Number 241
Edition 1
Book Title Ecosystem Collapse and Climate Change
Chapter Number 4
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71330-0_4

Files




You might also like



Downloadable Citations