Estimating Long-Term Average Carbon Emissions from Fires in Non-Forest Ecosystems in the Temperate Belt
Research into pyrogenic carbon emissions in the temperate belt of the Russian Federation has traditionally focused on the impact of forest fires. Nevertheless, ecosystems in which wildfires also make a significant contribution to anthropogenic CO<sub>2</sub> emissions are poorly studied....
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/5/1197 |
| _version_ | 1827650740891418624 |
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| author | Andrey Ostroukhov Elena Klimina Viktoriya Kuptsova Daisuke Naito |
| author_facet | Andrey Ostroukhov Elena Klimina Viktoriya Kuptsova Daisuke Naito |
| author_sort | Andrey Ostroukhov |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Research into pyrogenic carbon emissions in the temperate belt of the Russian Federation has traditionally focused on the impact of forest fires. Nevertheless, ecosystems in which wildfires also make a significant contribution to anthropogenic CO<sub>2</sub> emissions are poorly studied. We evaluated the carbon emissions of fires in the non-forest ecosystems of the Middle Amur Lowland, in the Khabarovsk Territory of the Russian Federation. Our study is based on long-term Earth remote sensing data of medium spatial resolution (Landsat 5, 7, and 8) and expeditionary studies (2018–2021). The assessment of carbon directly emitted from wildfires in meadow and meadow–mire temperate ecosystems in the Middle Amur lowland shows that specific emissions from such ecosystems vary, from 1.09 t/ha in dwarf shrub–sphagnum and sphagnum–ledum and sedge–reed fens to 6.01 t/ha in reed–forb, forb, reed, and sedge meadows. Meanwhile, carbon emissions specifically from fires in meadow and meadow–mire ecosystems are less significant—often an order of magnitude less than carbon emissions from forest fires (which reach 37 tC/ha). However, due to their high frequency and the large areas of land burned annually, the total carbon emissions from such fires are comparable to annual emissions from fires in forested areas. The results obtained show that the inadequacy of the methods used in the automatic mapping of burns leads to a significant underestimation of the area of grassland fires and carbon emissions from non-forest fires. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:23:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6494b512d0ac410cafe763605eecb690 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:23:16Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-6494b512d0ac410cafe763605eecb6902023-11-23T23:42:59ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922022-02-01145119710.3390/rs14051197Estimating Long-Term Average Carbon Emissions from Fires in Non-Forest Ecosystems in the Temperate BeltAndrey Ostroukhov0Elena Klimina1Viktoriya Kuptsova2Daisuke Naito3Khabarovsk Federal Research Centre FEB RAS, Institute of Water and Ecology Problems FEB RAS, 56 Dikopoltseva, 680021 Khabarovsk, RussiaKhabarovsk Federal Research Centre FEB RAS, Institute of Water and Ecology Problems FEB RAS, 56 Dikopoltseva, 680021 Khabarovsk, RussiaKhabarovsk Federal Research Centre FEB RAS, Institute of Water and Ecology Problems FEB RAS, 56 Dikopoltseva, 680021 Khabarovsk, RussiaCenter for International Forestry Research, Bogor 16115, IndonesiaResearch into pyrogenic carbon emissions in the temperate belt of the Russian Federation has traditionally focused on the impact of forest fires. Nevertheless, ecosystems in which wildfires also make a significant contribution to anthropogenic CO<sub>2</sub> emissions are poorly studied. We evaluated the carbon emissions of fires in the non-forest ecosystems of the Middle Amur Lowland, in the Khabarovsk Territory of the Russian Federation. Our study is based on long-term Earth remote sensing data of medium spatial resolution (Landsat 5, 7, and 8) and expeditionary studies (2018–2021). The assessment of carbon directly emitted from wildfires in meadow and meadow–mire temperate ecosystems in the Middle Amur lowland shows that specific emissions from such ecosystems vary, from 1.09 t/ha in dwarf shrub–sphagnum and sphagnum–ledum and sedge–reed fens to 6.01 t/ha in reed–forb, forb, reed, and sedge meadows. Meanwhile, carbon emissions specifically from fires in meadow and meadow–mire ecosystems are less significant—often an order of magnitude less than carbon emissions from forest fires (which reach 37 tC/ha). However, due to their high frequency and the large areas of land burned annually, the total carbon emissions from such fires are comparable to annual emissions from fires in forested areas. The results obtained show that the inadequacy of the methods used in the automatic mapping of burns leads to a significant underestimation of the area of grassland fires and carbon emissions from non-forest fires.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/5/1197pyrogenic carbon emissionsremote sensingnon-forest ecosystemsRussia |
| spellingShingle | Andrey Ostroukhov Elena Klimina Viktoriya Kuptsova Daisuke Naito Estimating Long-Term Average Carbon Emissions from Fires in Non-Forest Ecosystems in the Temperate Belt Remote Sensing pyrogenic carbon emissions remote sensing non-forest ecosystems Russia |
| title | Estimating Long-Term Average Carbon Emissions from Fires in Non-Forest Ecosystems in the Temperate Belt |
| title_full | Estimating Long-Term Average Carbon Emissions from Fires in Non-Forest Ecosystems in the Temperate Belt |
| title_fullStr | Estimating Long-Term Average Carbon Emissions from Fires in Non-Forest Ecosystems in the Temperate Belt |
| title_full_unstemmed | Estimating Long-Term Average Carbon Emissions from Fires in Non-Forest Ecosystems in the Temperate Belt |
| title_short | Estimating Long-Term Average Carbon Emissions from Fires in Non-Forest Ecosystems in the Temperate Belt |
| title_sort | estimating long term average carbon emissions from fires in non forest ecosystems in the temperate belt |
| topic | pyrogenic carbon emissions remote sensing non-forest ecosystems Russia |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/5/1197 |
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