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Abstract. The boreal forests in northern Mongolia play a crucial role in theregion's ecosystem functions and water supply. In the Khentii Mountains, at the transition between the boreal forests and dry steppes, extensive forest fires and large-scale deforestation have been occurring for decades, with bimodal distribution peaks during spring and autumn. The aim of this study is to record the differences in the recovery of forest stands after disturbances, and to examine the current developments in terms of forest composition, structure, andsoil properties. To achieve this, we combined remote-sensing analysis and field surveys to distinguish between four categories: undisturbed natural forest (NF), partly burned forest (PBF), burned forest (BF), and forest disturbed by domestic livestock (DF). The forests at NF and PBF are mainly composed of conifers, larches, and birches, while BF forests are dominated by young birches and lack conifers. The forest floor vegetation structure was lower in the heavily disturbed sites at DF and BF compared to PBF and NF. We described and sampled 10 soil profiles in the field for physical and hydrological analysis and found clear differences in soil temperatures and mostly in soil texture between soils under BF and PBF. Our results revealed that unmanned aerial vehicle-based observations of tree numbers showed differences compared to on-site investigations, probably because of differences in resolution and accuracy of the two methods. The study provides valuable information on the impact of wildfires. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the importance of utilizing remote-sensing methods to promote effective forest management practices.
