“The cold forests are burning! Siberia is burning, Canada is burning!”
On June 9, the University of Montpellier signed a memorandum of understanding withthe University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) and theUniversity of Franche-Comté to create an international research project on "cold forests." The goal is to model how these ecosystems function in order to better preserve them . This is a highly topical issue. Adam Ali, paleoecologist atISEM and project leader in France, explains.
This project is called "cold forests." What exactly do these terms mean?
Our project focuses on forests located in high latitudes, i.e., the Arctic and subarctic regions, as well as high-altitude forests: mountain forests. Whether at high altitudes or high latitudes, these forests are home to species that share common life history traits. For example, their ability to withstand frost or grow in very short periods of time, in order to survive in these ecosystems.
What is the current problem with these forests?
Our problem is quite simple: these forests are large carbon reservoirs. More specifically, the boreal forest that surrounds the Arctic Circle is one of the largest terrestrial carbon sinks, with carbon mainly trapped in centuries-old peat bogs. However, in recent years, the situation has been changing and our sink is turning into a source of carbon. This shift is linked to forest fires, which are becoming more frequent, larger (covering several thousand hectares), and more violent. This is one of the main focuses of our research.
Are cold forests catching fire?
Yes, it's counterintuitive, but cold forests burn... a lot! They are even among the ecosystems that burn the most in the world. Siberia is burning, Canada is burning! For example, in 2014, in Canada's Northwest Territories, 385 forest fires destroyed 3.4 million hectares. It is important to note that over the last 40 years, these northern regions have recorded an average annual temperature increase of +3°C. We can see what is happening right now in British Columbia with an unprecedented heat dome and a fire season that started very early, resulting in the evacuation of some villages (Radio Canada 07/01/2021).
Yet there is very little talk of it, even though the fires in Australia have been widely reported in the media...
That's true. There is little talk of it because these fires are nothing like what happened in Australia, but also because not many people live in these areas. Except, of course, the indigenous people who live in these forests and depend on them for their livelihood and for cultural reasons. There are issues related to the First Nations in these territories. They will be affected by climate change before anyone else.
But how can we explain why these forest fires start spontaneously?
It's not easy, because the system is quite complex. Is it linked to ocean warming? Is it linked to atmospheric anomalies? These are what we call teleconnection processes, and they're really not easy to understand, but we're working on it. We are trying to model and understand these mechanisms, or at least the parameters that have led to the mega-fires we have seen in recent years.
There is also the question of how these forests are exploited.
These are anthropized ecosystems, used by humans. The idea is to guide decision-making for any activity involving the use of biological resources in these ecosystems. To move towards ecosystem management that ensures that human disturbances ultimately remain within what we call "the range of natural variability, " a range of disturbances that the ecosystem can absorb, and therefore foresters and land managers are also partners in this approach.
This is an interdisciplinary project. You yourself are a paleoecologist. What does your discipline bring to the table?
We have ecologists, climatologists, forest managers, climate modelers, etc. I am responsible for the paleoecology aspect. The goal is to document how these ecosystems have functioned since the Holocene, i.e., over the last 11,700 years. During this geological period, there have been major climate changes: warming and cooling periods. We want to see how these ecosystems have responded to these climate variations.
How do you observe this?
We have open-air libraries! Lakes and their sediments, in which we find charcoal and pollen grains. These two bioindicators allow us to reconstruct the history of forest fires and vegetation over time. There is also dendrochronology...
…dendro what?
Dendro means “tree” in Greek, chronology means time. In wood, each growth ring is equal to one year; it is an archive that records everything. To simplify greatly, if it is warmer, for example, the tree will produce a much larger growth ring; if it is colder, it will be smaller. This makes it an ideal tool for reconstructing past temperature changes. These trees are also useful for dating fires, which leave scars when they do not burn the entire tree. These scars contain important information that allows us to date fires to within a year.
How long will the "Cold Forests" project last and where will it take place?
It is planned to last five years, renewable once. The epicenter will be in Quebec, where we will be hosted at the university, but we will also work in Canada's boreal zone, in the Northwest Territories, Labrador, and Newfoundland. In mountainous areas, the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Vosges, and the Atlas and Rif mountains of Morocco are the target locations. The broader project also includes a project in the Altai Mountains on the border between Russia and China....
You mention an expanded project. What is it about?
The memorandum of understanding we signed on June 9 is an international research project (IRP) involvingthe University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), the CNRS,the University of Franche-Comté, and the UM. Alongside this IRP, we have set up a broader international research network (IRN) that includes Sweden, Norway, Russia, China, and others. All of these partners enable us to take a truly international approach to our issues in order to develop joint projects.
What does this agreement, which the University of Montpellier has just signed, allow you to do?
This is the first time that the University has adopted a tool that allows Professors free up time and brainpower to develop their research. Thanks to Muse and the program, I was able to reduce my teaching load by two-thirds for the entire duration of the IRP. This is a major element of the agreement on the French side. The University of Franche-Comté provides support in terms of mobility assistance and project acquisition. On the Canadian side, there are also considerable resources, notably the Quebec Research Fund, which will contribute the equivalent of $100,000 each year. We also benefit from the creation of a research chair in historical ecology. In short, thanks to this agreement, we have five to ten years ahead of us to develop large-scale work on these fascinating ecosystems.
Adam Ali, a passion for cold forests
In 2004, Adam Ali, having just completed his PhD, moved to Quebec, where he has remained ever since. The author of a thesis on past environmental changes in alpine ecosystems, he became fascinated by the study of fires when he discovered cold forests. "Fires! That's what drove my passion for cold forests," recalls the researcher. In 2008, he was recruited by Montpellier 2 University and joined the CBAE, the Center for Bioarchaeology and Ecology, which has since merged withISEM.
In Montpellier, where research tends to focus more on the southern hemisphere, few scientists work on cold regions, as Adam Ali points out with a smile: "I have a whole territory and scientific niche to myself! " His most significant collaborations are therefore across the Atlantic, specifically in Quebec, notably the one he has maintained since 2005 with Yves Bergeron, the project coordinator in Canada. "He is a tremendous researcher, he has won the Marie Victorin Prize, which is the highest scientific distinction in Quebec," says the Frenchman, " he has an impact factor that borders on the indecent, and he also has exceptional human qualities. " Committed "2000%" to this major project for the next five to ten years, Adam Ali could well take the plunge by 2023 and settle permanently near his cold forests.