Fire meets inland water via burned wood: and then what?

Vaz, Pedro G.; Merten, Eric C.; Warren, Dana R.; Durscher, Kelsie; Tapp, Megan; Robinson, Christopher T.; Rego, Francisco; Pinto, Paulo

doi:10.1086/684095

Cited by 20 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 99 publications

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“…Consequently, wildfires modify water quality, and aquatic systems become more nutrient enriched. Finally, the loss of basin vegetation cover increases runoff and coarse-sediment transport (Vaz et al, 2015), especially after post-fire storms that produce morphological alterations to habitat (i.e. Finally, the loss of basin vegetation cover increases runoff and coarse-sediment transport (Vaz et al, 2015), especially after post-fire storms that produce morphological alterations to habitat (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Secondly, canopy loss increases light incidence, increasing water temperatures (Britton, 1991;Cooper et al, 2015) and reducing leaf inputs into the system (Rodríguez-Lozano, Rieradevall, Rau, & Prat, 2015). Finally, the loss of basin vegetation cover increases runoff and coarse-sediment transport (Vaz et al, 2015), especially after post-fire storms that produce morphological alterations to habitat (i.e. Mediterranean autumn storms; Verkaik et al, 2013;.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Direct and indirect impacts of wildfire on faunal communities of Mediterranean temporary ponds

et al. 2018

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The Mediterranean region has historically been affected by wildfires. However, studies addressing wildfire impacts have traditionally focused first on terrestrial systems and second on lotic systems. This bias has left a gap in knowledge related to wildfire effects on some of the emblematic habitats of the Mediterranean region such as temporary ponds. We hypothesise that temporary ponds will experience indirect consequences of wildfires like those of other aquatic systems (e.g. nutrient increases or trophic alterations). However, the fact that temporary ponds are dry during the summer, when most wildfires occur, could add a new path of disturbance such as an impact on organisms aestivating in the pond sediment due to their direct burning. Based on these hypotheses, the present study analyses wildfire impacts on faunal communities adapted to temporality, focusing on species traits related to expected indirect and direct impacts (i.e. dispersal ability, life history or feeding habits). We took advantage of a wildfire (summer 2012) that partially affected a Mediterranean temporary pond network, comparing the environmental and the faunal community responses from before and after the wildfire, and between the burned and unburned ponds during the subsequent hydroperiod. As hypothesised, our results indicated different wildfire effects. First, changes in abundances of some trophic groups from before and after the wildfire but also strong fluctuations at the beginning of the hydroperiod between burned and unburned ponds. Second, a decrease in abundance of organisms that remain in the pond sediment during drought in burned ponds, being probably affected directly by the wildfire. Only one hydroperiod appears to be sufficient for burned ponds to recover their similarity to unburned ponds, which highlights the high resilience of these communities. Despite their resilience, these communities could become compromised in the future since global change scenarios predict increase wildfire frequency and intensity in the Mediterranean region.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct and indirect impacts of wildfire on faunal communities of Mediterranean temporary ponds

et al. 2018

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“…Our study clearly demonstrates that wood burned level matters for the probability of its specific functions in the study streams within burnt areas and therefore managers must account for it in future postfire restoration campaigns. Given the high recruitment of wood following forest wildfires (Vaz et al 2015) and the controversial impetus to remove some of it (e.g., to eliminate stream blockage), our study suggests the selective removal of the most heavily carbonized wood would allow wood to persist with the greatest potential to provide substrate for the stream biota. Nonetheless, even heavily burned wood can provide structural complexity and cover for fish, both of vital importance in sand-bed streams for instance (Gurnell et al 1995).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Heavily burned wood from wildfires is less likely to provide functionality in streams

Vaz

Merten

Robinson

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Increasingly severe forest fires are recruiting more heavily burned wood into streams. Wood affects every ecological and physical process in streams differently throughout seasons. However, little is known about the seasonality of wood functions in fire-prone biomes and how it combines with wood burning level to guide future postfire restoration efforts. Through an extensive three-year seasonal tracking of stream wood following forest fires in central Portugal, we examined for the first time the influence of burning level, season, and a large suite of driving factors on the likelihood of each of four functions with primary ecological consequences - retention of organic matter, serving as substrate for aquatic biota, being key pieces forming wood jams, and deflecting flow including pool habitat formation. Our results strongly support that one of the main ecological functions of wood in rivers, i.e. to provide substrate for biological organisms - namely for vegetation, periphyton, biofilms, and ovipositions - can be negatively affected in heavily burned wood. Except for jam formation, the probability of each stream wood function changed markedly with season and the probability of non function was nearly twice as high in the Euro Mediterranean dry as in the wet season. More anchored and decayed wood increased the probability of all functions, whereas the effect of submergence depended on the function. Challenging the "size paradigm" assuming larger-sized pieces to provide more function, our data suggest the effect of size to be function-specific. Synthesis and applications: We show how postfire restoration success can be maximized by selecting the most appropriate wood, taking advantage of attribute function relationships and choosing the right timing for operations. We urge managers to refrain from removing wood or to selectively remove the most heavily carbonized only, allowing the persistence of great potential to provide substrate for stream biota. The non attraction of heavily burned wood as substrate can be compensated for by other wood with attributes enhancing this function, such as wood deeper within the bankfull area, and with large diameters. These results help to inform successful management, as is increasingly asked from restoration ecology.

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“…In river and stream restoration, the placement of wood is probably the most frequently applied keystone structures to increase habitat diversity. Wood increases habitat diversity cost‐effectively, introduces variability in flow conditions, contributes to the retention of organic material, and provides surface for algae and invertebrates (Vaz et al 2015).…”

Section: Targeting Habitat Diversity In Restorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Restoration for variability: emergence of the habitat diversity paradigm in terrestrial ecosystem restoration

Lengyel

Mester

Szabolcs

et al. 2020

Restoration Ecology

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Ecosystem restoration implies focusing on multiple trophic levels and ecosystem functioning, yet higher trophic levels, that is, animals, are less frequently targeted by restoration than plants. Habitat diversity, the spatial heterogeneity between and within habitat patches in a landscape, is a well-known driver of species diversity, and offers possible ways to increase species diversity at multiple trophic levels. We argue that habitat diversity is central in whole-ecosystem restoration as we review its importance, provide a practical definition for its components, and propose ways to target it in restoration. Restoration targeting habitat diversity is used commonly in aquatic ecosystems, mostly to increase the physical diversity of habitats, meant to provide more niches available to a higher number of animal species. To facilitate the uptake of habitat diversity in terrestrial ecosystem restoration, we distinguish between compositional and structural habitat diversity, because different animal groups will respond to different aspects of habitat diversity. We also propose four methods to increase habitat diversity: varying the starting conditions to obtain divergent successional pathways, emulating natural disturbances, establishing keystone structures, and applying ecosystem engineer species. We provide two case studies to illustrate how these components and methods can be incorporated in restoration. We conclude that targeting habitat diversity is a promising way to restore habitats for a multitude of species of animals and plants, and that it should become mainstream in restoration ecology and practice. We encourage the restoration community to consider compositional and structural habitat diversity and to specifically target habitat diversity in ecosystem restoration.

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Fire meets inland water via burned wood: and then what?

Cited by 20 publications

References 99 publications

Direct and indirect impacts of wildfire on faunal communities of Mediterranean temporary ponds

Direct and indirect impacts of wildfire on faunal communities of Mediterranean temporary ponds

Heavily burned wood from wildfires is less likely to provide functionality in streams

Restoration for variability: emergence of the habitat diversity paradigm in terrestrial ecosystem restoration

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