Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) — Chinese and international scientists have found a significant deterioration in the global capacity to restore forests after large-scale wildfires in the 21st century, with less than a third of damaged forests able to recover within seven years after a fire.
The study, published in the journal Nature Ecology
A research team led by Chen Ziyue of Beijing Normal University, Wu Zhaoyang of the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Josep Peñuelas of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain, analyzed 3,281 large forest fires worldwide using a hybrid methodological framework.
The main results show that since 2010, the average intensity of large wildfires has increased by 42.9 percent in drylands and 54.3 percent in boreal zones, with western North America, north-central Siberia, and southeastern Australia being the hardest hit. Post-fire recovery rates have declined sharply since 2010, as the area where recovery has stalled has increased from 22.6 percent to 25.6 percent, with forest structure and productivity posing particular challenges for recovery.
The study warns that reduced fire resilience could lead to catastrophic losses of biodiversity, biological resources and carbon sinks that far exceed direct fire emissions, seriously disrupting the global carbon cycle. Forest ecosystems damaged by fires are currently facing unprecedented challenges to natural recovery, exacerbated by extreme climate events such as heat waves and drought.
Natural recovery mechanisms can no longer cope with increasing climate pressure, Chen Ziyue said, calling for systematic international intervention at critical stages of post-fire recovery, including scientifically planned reforestation and ecological restoration projects.
Australian expert David Bowman from the University of Tasmania described the study as “an influential paper on a very serious topic.” -0-