Asymmetrical Lightning Fire Season Expansion in the Boreal Forest of Northeast China

Cong Gao; Ran An; Wenqian Wang; Chunming Shi; Mingyu Wang; Kezhen Liu; Xiaoxu Wu; Guocan Wu; Lifu Shu

doi:10.3390/f12081023

Forests (Jul 2021)

Asymmetrical Lightning Fire Season Expansion in the Boreal Forest of Northeast China

Cong Gao,
Ran An,
Wenqian Wang,
Chunming Shi,
Mingyu Wang,
Kezhen Liu,
Xiaoxu Wu,
Guocan Wu,
Lifu Shu

Affiliations

Cong Gao: College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Ran An: College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Wenqian Wang: College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Chunming Shi: College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Mingyu Wang: Research Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection, Key Laboratory of Forest Protection of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
Kezhen Liu: Department of Public Security, Nanjing Forest Police College, Nanjing 210023, China
Xiaoxu Wu: College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Guocan Wu: College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Lifu Shu: Research Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection, Key Laboratory of Forest Protection of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/f12081023
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 12, no. 8
p. 1023

Abstract

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All-season warming is assumed to advance snowmelt and delay snow accumulation; additionally, coupled with warming-induced drought stress, all-season warming could extend both the beginning and the end of the fire season. Using fire data updated for 1968–2018, we found an asymmetrical expansion of the lightning fire season in the boreal forest of Northeast China. Lightning fires have not advanced into the early fire season (May–June) but have largely extended into the snowless late fire season (July–September) since the late 1990s (mean end Julian date delayed by 51.1 days for 1998–2018 compared with 1968–1997, p < 0.001). Despite significant warming, the Julian days of snowmelt have changed only slightly, which has prohibited the fire season from advancing into early spring. The expansion of lightning fires into July–September was associated with a warming-induced significant increase in evapotranspiration and a decrease in soil/fuel moisture.

Published in Forests

ISSN: 1999-4907 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Botany: Plant ecology
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests/

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