Carbon dioxide emissions and vegetation recovery in fire-affected forest ecosystems of Siberia: Recent local estimations

Fire-disturbed Siberian forests require close attention because they contain significant amounts of 'old' soil organic C in permafrost that can be liberated soon after fires. Over the past several years, Siberian forest wildfires have intensified. This paper reviews current publications on postfire soil CO2 emissions (i.e., soil respiration) and vegetation recovery in Siberian ecosystems. It was demonstrated that soil CO2 emissions are strongly dependent on the time elapsed after the fire. Postfire soil respiration was linked to regenerated vegetation, including its control of soil microbial activity and autotrophic respiration. It was highlighted that environmental changes resulting from the fire disturbance, such as soil warming, waterlogging, and permafrost degradation, can have a profound effect on soil respiration and processes contributing to it, such as microbial and autotrophic respiration, in the short and long term. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.