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A new study shows that the boreal forest could be more resilient to forest fire than previously thought.

Using climate projections, scientists estimate that forest fire in the Boreal forest in Canada will be bigger and happen more frequently by the end of the 21st century. However, a careful study of the past 200 years of a 190-km long region in Northern Quebec shows that the most fire-prone areas are resistant to extreme forest fire, where more than 2% of the forest is burned, because of a an overabundance of young trees.

Original research paper published in PNAS on September 8, 2014.

Names and affiliations of selected authors

Dominique Arseneault, University of Quebec in Rimouski, Quebec