Interior Alaska's boreal forests are changing, more fires predicted

[Blue_In_AK]

http://www.adn.com/article/20150726/interior-alaskas-boreal-forests-are-changing-and-could-mean-more-wildfires

In late July, more than 300 wildfires are burning in Alaska. With burned acreage totals one month ahead of the historic 2004 fire season, summer 2015 is again the year of the wildfire.

Many scientists are not surprised. In papers written a few years ago, Alaska researchers and others suggested smoky years like this one will be the norm for a few decades as hardwoods replace the spruce of Interior Alaska. The boreal forest, a swath of spruce-dominated woods from Interior Alaska to the Atlantic Ocean, might be in for a big change.

"Results suggest that a widespread shift from coniferous to deciduous vegetation began around 1990 and will continue over the next several decades," wrote UAF researcher Dan Mann in a paper published in 2012. "Our modeling results support previous inferences that Alaska's boreal forest is now shifting to a new ecological state."

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"Everything in nature changes, but it's often a long time between these changes," he said. "What's unusual about the present day in Interior Alaska is that we are poised at the brink of what could be a very rapid change."