What are the spruces afraid of? How does the forest heal injuries after burns?

“Argumenty i Fakty” Weekly No. 31. Feeling of inevitable food 03/08/2022 Story National projects

Every year, hundreds of millions of trees are destroyed by fires in Russia.  

Fiery wounds

< img src="https://static1-repo.aif.ru/1/c0/1913056/77b548da99bb25beee8abedc547d937c.jpg" height="187" width="226" style="display: block;" />

On average, the forest is restored naturally 7-10 years after the fire. But these are just young shoots of trees. The first 2 & ndash; 3 years are needed only for the conflagration to be completely overgrown with grass. After 2–5 years, shrubs appear. But in order for the age-old forest to rustle again in this place, decades must pass. The native vegetation that was in the forest before the fire is rarely restored. Here often one cannot do without the help of a person. & nbsp;

The forest suffers especially after crown fires, when not only grass and forest litter, shrubs burn out, the roots of trees burn, and when large trees are completely destroyed by fire. It is interesting that the most hardy in the conditions of fires from coniferous breeds – Siberian larch, but spruce and fir die first. Of the hardwoods, the most adapted – aspen. 

“The areas of dead plantations, including those from forest fires, are identified during forest surveys, based on the results of which sanitary and recreational measures are prescribed, including logging, – Alexey Venglinsky, Deputy Head of Rosleskhoz, explains . – After the sanitary felling, updated data are entered into the state forest register, and these areas are subject to reproduction using seedlings and seedlings of the main forest tree species grown in forest nurseries. Reforestation can be carried out in a natural, artificial or combined way. 

By the way

Flame spread rate during ground fire – 0.5–1.5 m/min, with developed – up to 14 m/min, with riding – 100 m/min and more.