Hostname: page-component-76c49bb84f-229nc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-07-04T11:59:12.742Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fire in the Boreal Forest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

J.S. Rowe  and
G.W. Scotter
J.S. Rowe
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Ecology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
G.W. Scotter
Affiliation:
Canadian Wildlife Service, Department of Environment, Edmonton, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The boreal forest in North America owes much of its floristic and faunistic diversity to periodic fires ignited by lightning and by man since he appeared on the scene. The indirect evidences of buring in vegetation and soils, and recent direct observations of fires, are reviewed. Fire is shown to exert a significant effect on vegetational composition, on soil chemical properties and thermal regime, and on animal populations through the particular mosaic of habitats created. In turn, fire is itselt influenced by the nature of geographic landscape ecosystems according to their surface forms, accumulations of organic materials, and susceptibility to drought. It is concluded that fire should be viewed as a normal ecological process in the boreal forest. A thorough understanding of its long-term role in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems is needed.

Information

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , October 1973 , pp. 444 - 464
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Ahti, T., (1959). Studies on the caribou lichen stands of Newfoundland. Annals Botanical Society “Vanamo” 30, 4 1–144.Google Scholar
Ahti, T., Hepburn, R.L., (1967). Preliminary studies of woodland caribou range, especially on lichen stands, in Ontario. Research Report (Wildlife) No. 74 1967.Google Scholar
Anonymous, (1968). Nineteenth Annual Report, Department of Lands and Forests of the Province of Alberta. Queen's Printer EdmontonAnonymous.Google Scholar
Anonymous, (1970). Canadian forest fire weather index. Canadian Forestry Service, Department of Fisheries and Forestry Ottawa.Google Scholar
(1971). Lightning still main fire cause. Canadian Pulp and Paper Industry 24, 6 20Anonymous.Google Scholar
Beaton, J.D., (1959). The influence of burning on the soil in the Timber Range area of Lac le Jeune, B.C. Soil Science 39, 1–12.Google Scholar
Bird, R.D., (1961). Ecology of the aspen parkland of western Canada in relation to land use. Canadian Department of Agriculture, Research Branch Publication 1066, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Bliss, L.C., Wein, R.W., (1972). Plant community responses to disturbances in the western Canadian arctic. Canadian Journal of Botany 50, 1097–1109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloomberg, W.G., (1950). Fire and spruce. Forestry Chronicle 26, 157–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bray, J.R., Gorham, E., (1964). Litter production in forests of the world. Advances in Ecological Research 2, 101–157.Google Scholar
Brown, R.J.E., (1970). Permafrost in Canada. University of Toronto Press Toronto 234.Google Scholar
Bryson, R.A., Irving, W.N., Larsen, J.A., (1965). Radiocarbon and soil evidence of former forest in the southern Canadian tundra. Science 147, 3653 46–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Byram, G.M., (1959). Combustion of forest fuels. Davis, K.P., Forest Fire: Control and Use McGraw-Hill New YorkChap. 6.Google Scholar
Cayford, J.H., (1970). The role of fire in the ecology and silviculture of jack pine. Proceedings Annual Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference 10, 221–224.Google Scholar
Cody, W.J., (1965). Plants of the Mackenzie River Delta and Reindeer Grazing Preserve. Canadian Department of Agriculture, Plant Research Institute Ottawa.Google Scholar
Cowan, I.McT., Hoar, W.S., Hatter, J., (1950). The effect of forest succession upon the quantity and upon the nutritive values of woody plants used as food by moose. Canadian Journal of Research D 28, 249–271.Google Scholar
Damman, A.W.H., (1964). Some forest types of central Newfoundland and their relation to environmental factors. Society of American Foresters, Forest Science Monograph 8, 62.Google Scholar
Day, R.J., (1972). Stand structure, succession, and use of southern Alberta's Rocky Mountain forest. Ecology 53, 3 472–478.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Vos, A., (1951). Recent findings in fisher and marten ecology and management. Transactions North American Wildlife Conference 16, 498–507.Google Scholar
Dix, R.L., Swan, J.M.A., (1971). Role of disturbance and succession of upland forest around Candle Lake, Saskatchewan. Canadian Journal of Botany 49, 657–667.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, R.Y., (1954). Fire and the decline of a mountain caribou herd. Journal of Wildlife Management 18, 521–526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fleiger, B.W., (1963). The Miramichi Survey 1946; analyses of problems and recommendations. New Brunswick Department of Lands and Mines Fredericton, N.B, .Google Scholar
Foster, W.T., (1967). Symposium on prescribed burning. Pulp and Paper Magazine of Canada, Woodlands Review 68, 4–18(Mod.).Google Scholar
Gagnon, J.D., (1965). Nitrogen deficiency in the York River Burn, Gaspé, Quebec. Plant and Soil 23, 49–59.Google Scholar
Giddings, J.L., (1947). Mackenzie River Delta chronology. Tree Ring Bulletin 13, 4 26–29.Google Scholar
Grigel, J.E., Lieskovsky, R.J., Kiil, A.D., (1971). Fire hazard classification for Waterton Lakes National Park. Canadian Forestry Service, Department of the Environment, Northern Forest Research Centre, Information Report NOR-X-7, .Google Scholar
Halliday, W.E.D., Brown, A.W.A., (1943). The distribution of some important forest trees in Canada. Ecology 24, 353–373.Google Scholar
Hare, F.K., (1955). The boreal conifer zone. Geographical Studies 1, 4–18.Google Scholar
Hare, F.K., Taylor, R.G., (1956). The position of certain forest boundaries in southern Labrador-Ungava. Geographical Bulletin No 8, .Google Scholar
Heinselman, M.L., (1971). The natural role of fire in northern conifer forests. Slaughter, C.W., Barney, R.J., Hansen, G.M., Proceedings, Fire in the northern environment—a symposium U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station Portland, Oregon 61–72.Google Scholar
Horton, K.W., (1956). The ecology of lodgepole pine in Alberta and its role in forest succession. Canada Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources, Forestry Branch, Forest Research Division Technical Note No 45 .Google Scholar
Horton, K.W., Lees, J.C., (1961). Black spruce in the foothills of Alberta. Canada Department of Forestry, Forestry Research Branch Technical Note No 110 .Google Scholar
Jones, E.W., (1945). Structure and reproduction of the virgin forest of the north temperate zone. New Phytologist 44, 130–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kayll, A.J., (1968). The role of fire in the boreal forest of Canada. Canada Department of Forestry and Rural Development, Forestry Branch, Petawawa Forest Experiment Station Information Report PS-X-7, .Google Scholar
Keith, L.B., Surrendi, D.C., (1971). Effects of fire on a snowshoe hare population. Journal of Wildlife Management 35, 16–26.Google Scholar
Kiil, A.D., Grigel, J.E., (1969). The May 1968 forest conflagrations in central Alberta—a review of fire weather, fuels and fire behaviour. Canada Department of Fisheries and Forestry, Forestry Branch, Forest Research Laboratory Information Report A-X-24, Edmonton.Google Scholar
Kiil, A.D., Grigel, J.E., (1971a). A statistical summary of forest fires in the Yukon Territory 1966–1970. Canada Department of the Environment, Forestry Service, Northern Forest Research Center Information Report NOR-X-10, Edmonton.Google Scholar
Kiil, A.D., Grigel, J.E., (1971b). Prescribed fire effects in subalpine spruce-fir slash. Canada Forestry Service, Department of the Environment, Northern Forest Research Center Information Report NOR-X-3, Edmonton.Google Scholar
Knight, H., (1966). Loss of nitrogen from the forest floor by burning. Forestry Chronicle 42, 149–152.Google Scholar
Komarek, E.V. Sr., (1971). Principles of fire ecology and fire management in relation to the Alaskan environment. Slaughter, C.W., Barney, R.J., Hansen, G.M., Proceedings, Fire in the northern environment—a symposium U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station Portland, Oregon 3–22.Google Scholar
Komarek, E.V. Sr., (1962–1972). Proceedings, Annual Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference. Tall Timbers Research Station Tallahassee, Florida.Google Scholar
Kourtz, P., (1967). Lightning behaviour and lightning fires in Canadian forests. Canada Department of Forestry and Rural Development, Forestry Branch Publication No 1179, .Google Scholar
La Roi, G.H., (1967). Ecological studies in the boreal spruce-fir forests of the North American taiga. I. Analysis of the vascular flora. Ecological Monographs 37, 229–253.Google Scholar
Larsen, J.A., (1971). Vegetation of Fort Reliance, Northwest Territories. Canadian Field-Naturalist 85, 2 147–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leopold, Aldo, (1948). Game Management. C. Scribner's Sons New York 481.Google Scholar
Lutz, H.F., (1956). Ecological effects of forest fires in the interior of Alaska. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Technical Bulletin 1133, .Google Scholar
Maclean, D.W., Bedell, G.H.D., (1955). Northern Clay Belt growth and yield survey. Canada Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources, Forestry Branch Technical Note No 20 .Google Scholar
Maini, J.S., (1968). Silvics and ecology of Populus in Canada. Maini, J.S., Cayford, J.H., Growth and utilization of poplars in Canada. Canadian Department of Forestry and Rural Development, Departmental Publication No 1205, 20–69Chap. 2.Google Scholar
Mutch, R.W., (1970). Wildland fires and ecosystems—a hypothesis. Ecology 51, 6 1046–1051.Google Scholar
Patric, E.F., Webb, W.L., (1953). A preliminary report on intensive beaver management. Transactions North American Wildlife Conference 18, 533–539.Google Scholar
Quirk, W.A., Sykes, D.J., (1971). White spruce stringers in a fire-patterned landscape in interior Alaska. Slaughter, C.W., Barney, R.J., Hansen, G.M., Proceedings, Fire in the northern environment—a symposium U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station Portland, Oregon 179–197.Google Scholar
Raup, H.M., Denny, C.S., (1950). Photointerpetation of the terrain along the southern part of the Alaska highway. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 963-D, 95–135.Google Scholar
Ritchie, J.C., (1960a). The vegetation of northern Manitoba. Canadian Journal of Botany 38, 185–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ritchie, J.C., (1960b). The vegetation of northern Manitoba. VI. The lower Hayes River region. Canadian Journal of Botany 38, 769–788.Google Scholar
Rouse, W.R., Kershaw, K.A., (1971). The effect of burning on the heat and water regimes of lichen-dominated subarctic surfaces. Arctic and Alpine Research 3, 291–304.Google Scholar
Rousseau, J., (1952). Les zones biologiques de la Péninsule Québec-Labrador et l'hémiarctique. Canadian Journal of Botany 30, 436–474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowe, J.S., (1953). Forest sites—a discussion. Forestry Chronicle 29, 278–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowe, J.S., (1955). Factors influencing white spruce reproduction in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources, Forest Research Division Technical Note No 3 .Google Scholar
Rowe, J.S., (1969). Plant community as a landscape feature. Greenidge, K.N.H., Essays in plant geography and ecology Nova Scotia Museum Halifax 63–81.Google Scholar
Rowe, J.S., (1970). Spruce and fire in northwest Canada and Alaska. Komarek, E.V., Proceedings, Tenth Annual Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference 245–254Tallahassee, Florida.Google Scholar
Schmidt, R.L., (1970). Tree ring analysis with special reference to northwest America. Nniversity of British Columbia, Faculty of Forestry Bulletin No 7, .Google Scholar
Scotter, G.W., (1963). Growth rates of Cladonia alpestris, C. mitis and C. rangiferina in the Taltson River region, N.W.T. Canadian Journal of Botany 41, 1199–1202.Google Scholar
Scotter, G.W., (1964). Effects of forest fires on the winter range of barren-ground caribou in northern Saskatchewan. Canadian Wildlife Service Wildlife Management Bulletin Series 1 No. 18.Google Scholar
Scotter, G.W., (1970). Wildfires in relation to the habitat of barren-ground caribou in the taiga of northern Canada. Komarek, E.V., Proceedings, Tenth Annual Tall Timbers Ecology Conference 85–105Tallahassee, Florida.Google Scholar
Scotter, G.W., (1971). Fire, vegetation, soil, and barren-ground caribou relations in northern Canada. Slaughter, C.W., Barney, R.J., Hansen, G.M., Proceedings, Fire in the northern environment—a symposiuḿ U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station Portland, Oregon 209–230.Google Scholar
Scotter, G.W., (1972). Fire as an ecological factor in boreal forest ecosystems of Canada. Fire in the Environment, Symposium Proceedings Denver, Colorado U.S. Forest Service FS-276, 15–24.Google Scholar
Slaughter, C.W., Berney, R.J., Hansen, G.M., (1971). Fire in the northern enviromment—a symposium. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station Portland, Oregon.Google Scholar
Smith, D.W., Sparling, J.H., (1966). The temperatures of surface fires in jack pine barren. I. The variation in temperature with time. II. The effects of vegetation cover, wind speed, and relative humidity on fire temperatures. Canadian Journal of Botany 44, 1285–1298.Google Scholar
Smith, D.W., (1970). Concentrations of soil nutrients before and after fire. Canadian Journal of Soil Science 50, 17–29.Google Scholar
Spencer, D.L., Hakala, J.B., (1964). Moose and fire on the Kenai. Komarek, E.V., Proceedings, Annual Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference, No. 3 10–33Tallahassee, Florida.Google Scholar
Strang, R., (1972). Succession in unburned subarctic woodlands. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 3, 140–143.Google Scholar
Telfer, E.S., (1972). The effect of logging on wildlife in the Boreal Forest. Paper read at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society of Wildlife and Fisheries Biologists Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.Google Scholar
Thie, J., (1972). Application of remote sensing techniques for description and mapping of forest ecosystems. Manitoba Department of Mines, Resources, and Environmental Management Winnipeg.Google Scholar
Tucker, R.E., Jarvis, J.M., (1967). Prescribed burning in a white spruce-trembling aspen stand in Manitoba. Woodlands Review (July) 333–335.Google Scholar
Van Wagner, C.E., (1967). Seasonal variation in moisture content of eastern Canada tree foliage and the possible effect on crown fires. Canada Department of Forestry and Rural Development, Forestry Branch, Departmental Publication No 1204, .Google Scholar
Van Wagner, C.E., (1970). Temperature gradients in duff and soil during prescribed fires. Bi-Monthly Research Notes 26, 4 42.Google Scholar
Van Wagner, C.E., (1972). Heat of combustion, heat yield and fire behavior. Canada Department of Forestry and Rural Development, Forestry Branch, Petawawa Forest Experiment Station Information Report PS-X-35, .Google Scholar
Viereck, L.A., (1970). Forest succession and soil development adjacent to the Chena River in interior Alaska. Arctic and Alpine Research 2, 1 1–26.Google Scholar
Vincent, A.B., (1965). Black spruce—a review of its silvices, ecology and silviculture. Canada Department of Forestry Publication No 1100 .Google Scholar
Ward, P., (1968). Fire in relation to waterfowl habitat of the delta marshes. Komarek, E.V., Proceedings Annual Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference, No. 8 255–267Tallahassee, Florida.Google Scholar
Zasada, J.C., (1971). Natural regeneration of interior Alaska forests—seed, seedbed, and vegetative reproduction considerations. Slaughter, C.W., Barney, R.J., Hansen, G.M., Proceedings, Fire in the northern environment—a symposium U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station Portland, Oregon 231–246.Google Scholar
Zoltai, S.C., (1971). Southern limit of permafrost features in peat landforms, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Geological Association of Canada, Special Paper No 9, 305–310.Google Scholar