Simulating long-term effects of different harvesting modes on forest fire in Huzhong Forest Region, northeastern China.

By using a spatially explicit landscape model (LANDIS), we simulated the long-term (within 300 years) dynamics of forest fire regime under four scenarios of harvesting modes, i.e., no cutting, clear cutting, gradual cutting and selective cutting, in the Huzhong Forest Region in Da Xingan Ling Mountains.Results show that forest harvesting could decrease fine fuel loads, but no significant difference occurs among various harvesting modes. Forest harvesting could increase coarse fuel loads, with the largest increase under clear cutting scenario. In addition, forest harvesting could increase the area and frequency of forest fire as well as the fire occurrence probability. Fire occurrence probability under selective cutting scenario was the lowest. Moreover, forest harvesting could increase the fire risk class, which was the lowest under selective cutting scenario. We suggest that selective cutting mode should be taken under same cutting volume in order to decrease the influence of forest harvesting and fire disturbance on forest ecosystems and hence, to guarantee the healthy and sustainable development of forest ecosystems in this region.