Effect of Forest fire on the regeneration of a bamboo species (<i>Cephalostachyum pergracile</i> Munro) at a mixed deciduous forest in Mae Klong Watershed Research Station, Thailand

Abstract

To understand the effect of forest fire on the regeneration of Cephalostachyum pergracile Munro bamboo, we compared the culm dynamics in the early regeneration stage for 3 years between a site protected from natural fires since 1995 and a site that had been burnt almost annually in a mixed deciduous forest in Thailand. Although the repeated fires distinctly decreased the number and basal area of culms per clump and the proportion of surviving culms throughout the study period, this bamboo species basically represents an adaptation to fire disturbance. A greater number of thin culms and many small branches produced by the fire-disturbed bamboos may have maximized photosynthesis with minimum allocation of photosynthate after they lose their aboveground parts. Further, the ratio of surviving clumps was higher at the unprotected site than at the protected site where selfthinning among clumps occurred. In contrast to these dynamic responses of bamboos against the fire disturbances, the number of individual clumps and their sizes remained smaller at the unprotected site than at the protected site. These results indicate that the intensity and frequency of fires primarily determine the dynamics of the bamboo population, having potential to alter the forest succession to either less or more bamboo dominating forest community. Further studies are required to elucidate the role of fire on the interaction between bamboo and tree species, specifically at the middle and matured stages of bamboo life history and along a gradient of fire regimes for better understanding assembly of the MDF community.

Spatial association of bamboos with trees in a commercial tree plantation forest in Myanmar

“…Not only in our study site but also a lot of other mixed deciduous forests in Asia were managed by fire (Kachina et al . 2017). Since forest fire may give a big impact on species composition of a forest, for a sound practice of the forest management by fire, more studies to elucidate the roles of fire in the regeneration of bamboos and tree species in mixed deciduous forests are clearly necessary.…”

“…Weeding was conducted several times until 2 years after the establishment of the plantation. Bamboos might have been able to survive these treatments because they are tolerant of fire and other disturbances (Kachina et al 2017, Tanaka et al 2010). No tree-planting activities have been conducted subsequently; therefore, all commercial trees were planted in 1978.…”

“…Especially in Asian mixed deciduous tropical forests, bamboos are commonly found and are among the important components (Marod et al 2005, Kharlyngdoh et al 2021. The bamboo species studied were widely distributed in Asia (Marod et al 2005, Kachina et al 2017, Kharlyngdoh et al 2021. For example, C. pergracile was commonly found not only in Myanmar forests but also in wide areas from India to Thailand (Marod et al 2005, Kharlyngdoh et al 2021.…”

“…The fire may delay the regeneration of forest trees, especially fire-intolerant species. Because bamboos can survive forest fire (Kachina et al 2017), bamboos may obtain competitive advantage over tree species from annual forest fires. Consequently, forest fire may increase the dominance level of bamboos in mixed deciduous forests.…”

Modelling vegetation-climate interactions in South and Southeast Asia using a trait-based dynamic vegetation model

“…Once fully gown, the bamboo canopy can limit light penetration to the forest floor (Montti, Campanello and Goldstein, 2011), and suppress germination, regeneration and recruitment of tree seedlings (Budke, Jarenkow and de Oliveira-Filho, 2010; Montti, Campanello and Goldstein, 2011). Fire intensity and frequency can affect clump regeneration, production and development in forest communities (Smith and Nelson, 2011;Kachina et al, 2017).…”