Biology 1 (2014 7) 43-56 ~ ~ ~ УДК 640.43 Large Wildfi res in Taiga Subzones of Central Siberia Erik N. Valendika Sergey V. Verkhovetsa,b Vera A. Ryzhkovaa , Eugene I. Ponomareva and Yegor K. Kisilyakhova , , * 50/28 Akademgorodok, Krasnoyarsk, 660036, Russia b Received 12.10.2013, received in revised form 08.12.2013, accepted 19.02.2013 The work deals with the nature of large wildfi res, conditions of their occurrence and distribution in the taiga of Central Siberia. <...> The large fi res in this region occur during periods of prolonged and intense drought, with precipitation defi cit more than 60 % of the norm. <...> Vegetation and climate conditions of large fi res are identifi ed and map of their distribution is compiled using satellite information. <...> Fire seasons scenarios are examined, and an iterative model for short-term forecasting of extreme fi re situations is proposed. <...> Methodology for short-term forecasting of large wildfi res risk is offered based on satellite data simultaneously on the whole territory of Central Siberia. <...> Keywords: large1 and catastrophic2 forest fi res, droughts, extreme fi re season. <...> All rights reserved * Corresponding author E-mail address: ykisil88@gmail.com a V.N. Sukhachev Institute of Forest SB RAS Siberian Federal University, 79 Svobodny, Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russia # 43 # Erik N. Valendik, Sergey V. Verkhovets… Large Wildfi res in Taiga Subzones of Central Siberia Природа крупных пожаров в подзонах тайги Центральной Сибири Е. <...> Although large and catastrophic fi res make up about 1-2 % of all forest fi res, they account for up to 50-70 % of the total area burned and up to 90 % of the total fi re damage (Valendik, 1996). <...> Large wildfi res (with areas burned exceeding 1400 ha) have occurred mainly in northern boreal forests of Central and Eastern Siberia. <...> Forest fi re growth to large and catastrophic size can be attributable to certain combinations of natural and human factors. <...> Сукачёва СО РАН Сибирский федеральный университет Erik N. Valendik, Sergey V. Verkhovets… Large Wildfi res in Taiga Subzones of Central Siberia <...>