Northern Eurasia: Remote Sensing of Boreal Forests in Selected Regions
msra
摘要
Boreal forest is the major type of land cover in Northern Eurasia. It forms one of the world’s largest forest tracts and amounts
to some 25% of the world’s forest cover. Boreal forest ecosystems developed under the influence of an active natural disturbance
regime that created a complex and dynamic pattern of land cover. Species mix, patterns of succession, and the role of specific
disturbance factors vary from region to region. Fire and insect damage represent two major natural disturbance factors, although
the extent and patterns of these disturbances may partly reflect human influences. Human impact on boreal forests is expanding
throughout Northern Eurasia and includes timber harvest, fire control, drainage of peat lands, urban, agricultural and infrastructure
development, industrial pollution, forestation and conservation measures. The impact of projected climate change and potential
feedbacks from boreal forest ecosystems are expected to be strong making it very important to understand the current patterns
of forest cover, its attributes, and change over time. Case studies within the boreal forest of Eurasia focus on regions that
vary greatly in the extent of human impact on forest ecosystems. In the heavily populated west (St. Petersburg region) few
primary forests remain and repeated logging is the major disturbance factor while urban expansion and agricultural change
(including abandonment of agricultural lands) also plays a role. In Central Siberia, timber harvest is expanding into previously
unexploited forests while fire and insects continue to play a major role as some abandonment of agricultural lands adds to
forest cover. Finally, in Northeast China fire control is taking effect while intensive use of forests is maintained and localized
land clearing for agriculture continues. Remote sensing was used in all three study regions as a basis for the analysis of
forest cover and disturbance patterns.
更多查看译文
AI 理解论文
溯源树
样例
生成溯源树,研究论文发展脉络