Fire severity as a key factor in post-fire regeneration of Pinus pinaster (Ait.) in Central Portugal

Paula Maia; Juli G. Pausas; Ana Vasques; Jan Jacob Keizer

doi:10.1007/s13595-012-0203-6

Fire severity as a key factor in post-fire regeneration of Pinus pinaster (Ait.) in Central Portugal

Paula Maia^*, Juli G. Pausas, Ana Vasques, Jan Jacob Keizer

^*Corresponding author for this work

Spatial Ecology and Global Change

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Mediterranean pine woodlands are strongly affected by wildfires; however, there are knowledge gaps in the role of fire severity on Pinus pinaster Ait. regeneration.

The principal questions were: (a) does post-fire regeneration of Maritime Pine differ where canopies were consumed to a low vs. high degree and (b) which factors, besides fire severity, could explain these differences.

Pine recruitment was monitored from 2 to 36 months after a summer wildfire in 18 25 m(2) plots, equally divided over two fire severity classes based on crown consumption. Besides the degree of crown consumption, three quantitative fire severity indices as well as post-fire site conditions, seed input and understory vegetation recovery were measured.

Pine seedling densities were consistently higher in the plots with low than high crown consumption but due to marked spatial variability, they were only significantly different at two out of the eight sampling occasions. This variability could be explained by a quantitative index based on the diameter of twigs, as well as by seed input and post-fire site conditions (ash and litter cover).

Fire severity was found to strongly affect the pine recruitment following wildfire, using both a qualitative visual severity index and a quantitative, more labour-intensive one.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	489-498
Number of pages	10
Journal	Annals of Forest Science
Volume	69
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-012-0203-6
Publication status	Published - Jun 2012

Funding

P. Maia and A. Vasques were funded through PhD grants attributed by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), with references SFRH/BD/42168/2007 and SFRH/BD/47522/2008, respectively. The EROSFIRE II project, which provided logistic support in the bulk of the field campaigns, was also funded by the FCT, with co-funding by FEDER through the POCI2010 Programme (PTDC/AGR-CFL/70968/2006).

Keywords

Fire severity
Pinus pinaster
Post-fire regeneration
Post-fire site conditions
EASTERN IBERIAN PENINSULA
GALICIA NW SPAIN
HIGH-TEMPERATURES
NATURAL REGENERATION
HALEPENSIS MILLER
SEED-GERMINATION
FOREST-FIRE
RECRUITMENT
ESTABLISHMENT
ENVIRONMENTS

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title = "Fire severity as a key factor in post-fire regeneration of Pinus pinaster (Ait.) in Central Portugal",

abstract = "Mediterranean pine woodlands are strongly affected by wildfires; however, there are knowledge gaps in the role of fire severity on Pinus pinaster Ait. regeneration.The principal questions were: (a) does post-fire regeneration of Maritime Pine differ where canopies were consumed to a low vs. high degree and (b) which factors, besides fire severity, could explain these differences.Pine recruitment was monitored from 2 to 36 months after a summer wildfire in 18 25 m(2) plots, equally divided over two fire severity classes based on crown consumption. Besides the degree of crown consumption, three quantitative fire severity indices as well as post-fire site conditions, seed input and understory vegetation recovery were measured.Pine seedling densities were consistently higher in the plots with low than high crown consumption but due to marked spatial variability, they were only significantly different at two out of the eight sampling occasions. This variability could be explained by a quantitative index based on the diameter of twigs, as well as by seed input and post-fire site conditions (ash and litter cover).Fire severity was found to strongly affect the pine recruitment following wildfire, using both a qualitative visual severity index and a quantitative, more labour-intensive one.",

keywords = "Fire severity, Pinus pinaster, Post-fire regeneration, Post-fire site conditions, EASTERN IBERIAN PENINSULA, GALICIA NW SPAIN, HIGH-TEMPERATURES, NATURAL REGENERATION, HALEPENSIS MILLER, SEED-GERMINATION, FOREST-FIRE, RECRUITMENT, ESTABLISHMENT, ENVIRONMENTS",

author = "Paula Maia and Pausas, {Juli G.} and Ana Vasques and Keizer, {Jan Jacob}",

year = "2012",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1007/s13595-012-0203-6",

language = "English",

volume = "69",

pages = "489--498",

journal = "Annals of Forest Science",

issn = "1286-4560",

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T1 - Fire severity as a key factor in post-fire regeneration of Pinus pinaster (Ait.) in Central Portugal

AU - Maia, Paula

AU - Pausas, Juli G.

AU - Vasques, Ana

AU - Keizer, Jan Jacob

PY - 2012/6

Y1 - 2012/6

N2 - Mediterranean pine woodlands are strongly affected by wildfires; however, there are knowledge gaps in the role of fire severity on Pinus pinaster Ait. regeneration.The principal questions were: (a) does post-fire regeneration of Maritime Pine differ where canopies were consumed to a low vs. high degree and (b) which factors, besides fire severity, could explain these differences.Pine recruitment was monitored from 2 to 36 months after a summer wildfire in 18 25 m(2) plots, equally divided over two fire severity classes based on crown consumption. Besides the degree of crown consumption, three quantitative fire severity indices as well as post-fire site conditions, seed input and understory vegetation recovery were measured.Pine seedling densities were consistently higher in the plots with low than high crown consumption but due to marked spatial variability, they were only significantly different at two out of the eight sampling occasions. This variability could be explained by a quantitative index based on the diameter of twigs, as well as by seed input and post-fire site conditions (ash and litter cover).Fire severity was found to strongly affect the pine recruitment following wildfire, using both a qualitative visual severity index and a quantitative, more labour-intensive one.

AB - Mediterranean pine woodlands are strongly affected by wildfires; however, there are knowledge gaps in the role of fire severity on Pinus pinaster Ait. regeneration.The principal questions were: (a) does post-fire regeneration of Maritime Pine differ where canopies were consumed to a low vs. high degree and (b) which factors, besides fire severity, could explain these differences.Pine recruitment was monitored from 2 to 36 months after a summer wildfire in 18 25 m(2) plots, equally divided over two fire severity classes based on crown consumption. Besides the degree of crown consumption, three quantitative fire severity indices as well as post-fire site conditions, seed input and understory vegetation recovery were measured.Pine seedling densities were consistently higher in the plots with low than high crown consumption but due to marked spatial variability, they were only significantly different at two out of the eight sampling occasions. This variability could be explained by a quantitative index based on the diameter of twigs, as well as by seed input and post-fire site conditions (ash and litter cover).Fire severity was found to strongly affect the pine recruitment following wildfire, using both a qualitative visual severity index and a quantitative, more labour-intensive one.

KW - Fire severity

KW - Pinus pinaster

KW - Post-fire regeneration

KW - Post-fire site conditions

KW - EASTERN IBERIAN PENINSULA

KW - GALICIA NW SPAIN

KW - HIGH-TEMPERATURES

KW - NATURAL REGENERATION

KW - HALEPENSIS MILLER

KW - SEED-GERMINATION

KW - FOREST-FIRE

KW - RECRUITMENT

KW - ESTABLISHMENT

KW - ENVIRONMENTS

U2 - 10.1007/s13595-012-0203-6

DO - 10.1007/s13595-012-0203-6

M3 - Article

SN - 1286-4560

VL - 69

SP - 489

EP - 498

JO - Annals of Forest Science

JF - Annals of Forest Science

IS - 4

ER -

Fire severity as a key factor in post-fire regeneration of Pinus pinaster (Ait.) in Central Portugal

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

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