Temporal and Spatial Correlation Between Forest Loss and Forest Fire in the Ecological Region of Southern China

The spatial and temporal distribution patterns of forest fire and forest loss were studied on multiple spatial scales in the ecological region of southern China, the correlation and scaling effect between forest loss and forest fire were revealed. The results showed that during 2003 to 2015, a total of 69314.8 km² of forests were lost, with an average annual loss of 5331.9 km². The forest burned area was 8104.9 km², with an average annual forest burned area of 623.5 km²; the area of forest loss and forest fire in the 4 sub-ecological regions were significantly different. The loss of forests showed an increasing trend in all the 4 ecological regions. Except for Sichuan and Chongqing ecological regions, the forest burned areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and South China ecological regions showed a decreasing trend; spatially, only 1.9% of the study area presented significantly positive correlation between forest loss and forest fire, which indicates that there is a certain correlation between forest loss and burned area, but the correlation is not strong; the correlation between forest loss and forest fire was significantly different under vegetation types and geomorphic conditions.