Researchers have predicted and proposed that temperatures will continue to rise in the future. Studies show that after fires deciduous aspen and birch sprout in the area. Although the deciduous aspen and birch is less flammable, “it may be so warm in the future that deciduous forests also regularly burn” (3). The spread of the deciduous forests and increase in temperatures may convert the coniferous forests to deciduous forests and the native black and white spruce will not exist in the Alaskan Boreal Forest. Furthermore, fire suppression is often used in Alaskan communities. Researchers predict that the communities will “increase the proportion of late-successional flammable vegetation on the landscape, eventually increasing the likelihood of future fires with relatively greater societal impacts (5). Human impacts through climate change and fire suppression will likely increase fire severity in the Alaskan Boreal Forest.
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