Abstract

Among forest fires, underground (peat) fires lead in terms of the amount of material burned per unit area and, consequently, the impact on climate change, but they differ in the complexity of assessing the loss of soil carbon and its emissions to the atmosphere. Using the example of the 2010 forest and peat fire in Moscow oblast (an area of 9 ha with a variable original tree-stand composition), the depth of burnout and loss of soil carbon were determined by reconstructing the prefire soil surface along the root collar of stumps, as well as comparing the characteristics of peat on the burned and adjacent areas. The average (median) burnout depth was 15 ± 8 (14) cm, varying in different areas from 13 ± 5 (11) to 20 ± 9 (19) cm. The burnout depth increased with the relative surface height and was maximum in areas with a predominance of aspen. Based on the data of the layer-by-layer determination of the bulk density, ash content, and carbon content in peat, the dependences of the carbon stock on the peat thickness are obtained. Based on them, and according the depth of burning, the carbon losses are estimated, which amount to an average (median) of 9.8 ± 5.57 (9.22) kg m^–2 for the burned-out areas, varying in different areas from 8.61 ± 3.75 (7.39) to 12.9 ± 6.18 (12.3) kg m^–2, which is equivalent to a one-time emission of almost 400 t СО₂ ha^—1 and at least 1.5 times higher than the possible release of CO₂ into the atmosphere from the loss of carbon biomass of a growing stand with a stem wood stock of more than 280 m³ ha^–1. The results correspond to the upper limit of estimates of soil carbon losses obtained by foreign authors and confirm the underestimation of the factor of underground (peat) fires in the boreal zone in comparison with the tropics and in general when considering the influence of forest and peatland ecosystems on the gas composition of the atmosphere and climate.

中文翻译：

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地下森林火灾期间泥炭燃烧深度和碳损失

摘要

在森林大火中，地下（豌豆）大火以单位面积燃烧的材料量以及因此对气候变化的影响为主导，但在评估土壤碳损失及其向大气中的排放方面的复杂性有所不同。以2010年莫斯科州森林和泥炭大火为例（9公顷的原始林分组成可变），通过重建沿根领的预火土壤表面来确定燃尽深度和土壤碳损失的树桩，并比较燃烧和邻近区域的泥炭特征。平均（中位）倦怠深度为15±8（14）cm，不同区域从13±5（11）到20±9（19）cm不等。燃尽深度随相对表面高度而增加，在以白杨为主的区域最大。根据泥炭的堆积密度，灰分和碳含量的逐层测定数据，可以获得碳储量对泥炭厚度的依赖性。基于它们，并根据燃烧深度，估算出碳损失，其平均（中位数）为9.8±5.57（9.22）kg m^-2为消失的区域，从8.61±3.75（7.39）在不同区域变化到12.9±6.18（12.3）公斤米^-2，这相当于几乎400吨СО一次性发射₂公顷^-1至少比280 m ³ ha ^–1的茎木生长中的碳生物量损失引起的CO ₂释放到大气中的可能性高至少1.5倍。结果与国外作者估算的土壤碳损失的上限相对应，并且与热带地区相比，并考虑到森林和泥炭地的影响，总体上证实了北部地区的地下（豌豆）火灾因子被低估了。生态系统对大气和气候的气体成分的影响。