Section: Monitoring of natural and anthropogenically disturbed areas
The dynamics of fires in the middle taiga subzone in the northeast of the European part of Russia in the Holocene
are presented. Peat soils (Histosols) on the territory of the Komi Republic have been investigated. Dendrochronological
studies and assessment of the content of macroscopic charcoal particles in peat were carried out at the sites. Radiocarbon
dating values were obtained, which allowed us to build models of the rate of vertical growth of peat deposits and identify
time intervals with frequent fires. In the course of the work, it was revealed that the studied middle taiga landscapes of the
Komi Republic (Mezensko-Vychegodskaya Plain, Severnye Uvaly, foothills of the Northern Urals) have a similar history
of paleofires. The paper shows that the maximum content of macroscopic charcoal particles is observed in the lower peat
horizons dating from the Boreal and Atlantic periods of the Holocene (10,200 to 4,500 years ago). The Subboreal period is
characterized by a significantly lower number of forest fires compared to the Atlantic and Sub-Atlantic periods. The upper
peat horizons, dating from the end of the Sub-Atlantic period, contain information about the increase in the frequency of
fires at present time. Regularity has been revealed according to which during the warm periods of the Holocene, stable
forms of carbon as a result of frequent fires were accumulated significantly more than during the cold periods.
ISSN 1995-4301
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