Fires for the Future
Fires for the Future: Soil Carbon Dynamics and Ecosystem Service Trade-offs in Boreal Forest Restoration
Fires for the Future is a research project (Funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, 2026-2029) examining how prescribed burning can be used as a forest restoration tool in boreal ecosystems, with a particular focus on soil carbon dynamics, greenhouse gas fluxes, and ecosystem service trade-offs.
Prescribed fire is increasingly used in Finland to restore biodiversity and natural disturbance regimes, yet its effects on soil carbon sequestration, methane and carbon dioxide exchange, water quality, and other ecosystem services remain insufficiently quantified. This project addresses these knowledge gaps by combining field measurements, laboratory analyses, and modelling approaches across restored forest sites.
The project investigates how fire severity and post-fire soil conditions regulate:
- soil carbon pools, including pyrogenic (fire-derived) carbon,
- greenhouse gas fluxes (CO₂ and CH₄),
- interactions between soil processes and ecosystem services such as climate regulation, biodiversity support, and water quality.
By explicitly analysing trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services, Fires for the Future aims to provide science-based evidence to support sustainable forest restoration and climate-smart land management in boreal regions.
Project financed by:
