Effects of Fire in the Mediterranean Region

Naveh, Zev

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-424255-5.50017-1

Cited by 151 publications

(130 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…They are able to regain their former ground cover, dominant position and height after 4-5 years. The same mechanism has been recorded by many other authors in succession studies on French garrigue (Trabaud and Lepart, 1980), shrub communities in Italy (De Lillis and Testi, 1990), phrygranic ecosystem studies (Arianoutsou-Faraggitaki, 1984), Portuguese Mediterranean maquis (Clemente et al, 1996) and also Israeli maquis (Naveh and Dann, 1974). In general, these resprouter chamaephytes, Erica australis and Chamaespartium tridentatum, can regenerate both from roots and by seed germination followed by vigorous growth.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…The highest values for the two parameters coincide with the maximum explosion of herbaceous species during the first 4-5 years, and then both decrease. This increase in the richness values in the first few stages has been described by other authors who analysed post-fire vegetation recovery (Naveh and Dann, 1974;Lepart, 1980, 1981;Casal et al, 1990;Bond and Van Wilgen, 1996;Cavero and Ederra, 1999;Naveh, 1999). The decrease in diversity values is produced by the community starting to stabilise or by the changes being brought to a standstill, and this results in a marked dominance of woody species and, in these zones, of Erica australis.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

“…Among the most important forms of disturbance are forest fires (Trabaud, 1980(Trabaud, , 1991Casal, 1985Casal, , 1987Luis et al, 1989a,b;Clement and Touffet, 1990;Calvo, 1993;LeHouerou, 1993;Calvo et al, 1998a;Naveh, 1999) and cutting (Casal, 1985;Cody, 1986). These long-term disturbances have led to the extensive destruction of treedominated vegetation formations in large areas of the Mediterranean basin (Naveh and Dann, 1974;Barbero et al, 1990) and transformed it into shrublands, creating a mosaic of ecosystems indicative of degradation (Di Castri, 1981). In the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula (León province), these types of shrubland communities cover 33% of the total area, according to the Ministry of Agriculture (Ministerio de Agricultura, 1984).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Secondary succession after perturbations in a shrubland community

2002

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Shrubland responses to experimental burning, cutting and ploughing treatments were studied over 15 years in two shrubland communities dominated by Erica australis. The treatments represent the most frequent forms of anthropogenic disturbances experienced by these communities throughout their history. The response to burning and cutting treatments is similar, and the succession process is characterised as autosuccession. The highest values for herbaceous annuals and perennials were observed in the third and fourth years. Generally, herbaceous species remain present throughout the study period, while woody taxa ones increase their cover values over time. The quantity of herbaceous species present is in inverse proportion to the quantity of woody taxa. The woody species that appear immediately after treatments are sprouting species, namely Erica australis and Arctostaphylos uva-ursi. The response to ploughing is slower, reflecting the recovery mechanism (seedlings). However, after 15 years, there are no significant differences in regeneration between treatments. The first stages of this post-ploughing succession are dominated by annual species until the fourth or fifth years, after which woody species begin to dominate and herbaceous taxa decrease considerably. Woody species with high germination values are Halimium alyssoides and Halimium umbellatum. These shrubland communities have a very high resilience to such perturbations and start regenerating rapidly, reaching the original state in about 9 years. The appearance of the climax arboreal species of the area, Quercus pyrenaica, when it comes from germination, occurs 15 years after the perturbations.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Secondary succession after perturbations in a shrubland community

2002

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“…For thousands of years, fire has been an ecological factor, which has patterned the landscape in many areas of the Earth, and particularly in those with a Mediterranean climate (Naveh, 1974(Naveh, , 1999. However, in the last few decades, the number of fires and the total area burned in the European Mediterranean have increased considerably (Moreno and Vallejo, 1999;Pausas and Vallejo, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Forest fires are presently one of the most serious threats to ecosystem conservation, not only because of vegetation destruction but also because of the soil loss, which seriously jeopardises possible recovery. The dominant plants of most Mediterranean shrublands, like Erica australis heathlands, can resprout vegetatively after a fire; so recovery is by autosuccession and quite fast (Naveh, 1974;Luis et al, 1987;Trabaud, 1987;Calvo et al, 1998;Vallejo and Alloza, 1998). The main risk of erosion loss is therefore only in the first few stages after fire (DiazFierros et al, 1990;Marcos et al, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of sowing native herbaceous species on the post-fire recovery in a heathland

et al. 2003

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Erica australis heathlands in León province (NW Spain) have high resilience to disturbances and their post-fire recovery is very fast. The risk of soil erosion is high in the first few months after fire. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects on post-fire succession of sowing grass (Agrostis capillaris and Festuca rubra) and legume (Lotus corniculatus) seeds in a heathland burned by a summer wildfire, and to determine the most suitable native herbaceous species combination for protecting the soil in the first few phases of recovery. Fifteen permanent 4 m 2 plots are established in the burned area; four treatments and a control (unsown) are applied, each with three replicates. Three similar unburned plots are also considered (unburned control). Total cover is significantly higher in the sown plots in relation to the control in the first few months after sowing, but there are no differences after 18 months. Lotus corniculatus appears only in the first year and has no effect on the total cover. F. rubra appears earlier than Agrostis capillaris, but decreases significantly in cover after 18 months. Shrub species have the highest cover in the control plots and the lowest in the Agrostis plots. The correspondence analysis shows that the trend for vegetation in all plots reaches similar species composition by the time of final sampling. The last sampling of sown plots shows greater similarity to the control plots than the sampling of these plots within the first year. The fast initial growth of F. rubra, together with its decrease and subsequent low cover from the second year, make it more preferable than Agrostis capillaris for purposes of soil protection. However, additional research, both species-and site-specific, is necessary, as different responses due to different post-fire conditions and pre-fire species composition can have important implications on community dynamics.

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Vegetation and Disturbance

Mazzoleni

Rego²,

Giannino

et al. 2013

Environmental Modelling

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This paper focuses on fire and grazing with an emphasis on work in Mediterranean environments. Fire and grazing accounted for more variation than the combination of all other environmental and spatial variables. Fire and grazing may have antagonistic effects over relatively short timescales. Grazing reduces plant growth and removes available fuel, thus reducing the intensity of fire, and their combined effect is thus less than expected from the sum of their individual impacts. The modelling exercises in this chapter show the power of existing modelling tools to examine some of the complex interactions of ecological processes, such as the combined effects of grazing, fire and dispersal processes, on patterns of plant competition. The level of model integration achieved allows the theoretical investigation of well-known ecological processes such as the successional patterns under different disturbance regimes and the effects of the introduction of exotic species on the diversity of natural vegetation

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Effects of Fire in the Mediterranean Region

Cited by 151 publications

References 11 publications

Secondary succession after perturbations in a shrubland community

Secondary succession after perturbations in a shrubland community

Effects of sowing native herbaceous species on the post-fire recovery in a heathland

Vegetation and Disturbance

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