Post-fire restoration of Mediterranean forests: Testing assembly rules mediated by facilitation

Siles, Gemma; Rey, Pedro J.; Alcántara, Julio M.

doi:10.1016/j.baae.2010.05.004

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Specially, oak seed germination and seedling establishment can benefit from partial cover because of water stress reduction (Espelta et al. , 1995; Siles et al. , 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large‐scale assessment of regeneration and diversity in Mediterranean planted pine forests along ecological gradients

Ruiz‐Benito

Gómez‐Aparicio

Zavala

2012

Diversity and Distributions

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AimThere is increasing concern regarding sustainable management and restoration of planted forests, particuIarly in the Mediterranean Basin where pine species have been widely used. The aim of this study was to analyse the environmental and structural characteristics of Mediterranean planted pine forests in relation to natural pine forests. Specifically, we assessed recruitment and woody species richness along climatic, structural and perturbation gradients to aid in developing restoration guidelines.Location Continental Spain. MethodsWe conducted a muItivariate comparison of ecological characteristics in planted and natural stands of main Iberian native pine species (Pinus halepensis, Pinus pinea, Pinus pinaster, Pinus nigra and Pinus sylvestris). We fitted species-specific statistical models of recruitment and woody species richness and analysed the response of natural and planted stands along ecological gradients.Results Planted pine forests occurred on average on poorer soils and experienced higher anthropic disturbance rates (fire frequency and anthropic mortality) than natural pine forests. Planted pine forests had Iower regeneration and diversity levels than natural pine forests, and these differences were more pronounced in mountain pine stands. The largest differences in recruitment -chiefly oak seedling abundance -and species richness between planted and natural stands occurred at low-medium values of annual precipitation, stand tree density, distance to Quercus forests and fire frequency, whereas differences usually disappeared in the upper part of the gradients.Main conclusions Structural characteristics and patterns of recruitment and species richness differ in pine planted forests compared to natural pine ecosystems in the Mediterranean, especially for mountain pines. However, management options exist that would reduce differences between these forest types, where restoration towards more natural conditions is feasible. To increase recruitment and diversity, vertical and horizontal heterogeneity could be promoted by thinning in high-density and homogeneous stands, while enrichment planting would be desirable in mesic and medium-density planted forests. KeywordsContinental Spain, management, naturalization, plantation, recrnitment limitation, woody species richness.Forests cover more than 30% ofthe terrestrial biosphere (FAO, 2010) and harbour around two-thirds of terrestrial biological diversity (MEA, 2005). These reservoirs of biodiversity are threatened by ongoing deforestation and forest degradation processes (FAO, 2010), and increasingly also by new pressures such as climatic change (Dale et al., 2001). Restoration is a promising approach to counteract 10ss of forests and related ecosystem services (Lamb et al., 2005;Chazdon, 2008).

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“…Specially, oak seed germination and seedling establishment can benefit from partial cover because of water stress reduction (Espelta et al. , 1995; Siles et al. , 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large‐scale assessment of regeneration and diversity in Mediterranean planted pine forests along ecological gradients

Ruiz‐Benito

Gómez‐Aparicio

Zavala

2012

Diversity and Distributions

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“…A new field of study deals with the identification of previous land-use changes as drivers of post-fire regeneration (Clavero et al, 2011;Puerta-Piñero et al, 2012). Additional breakthroughs have been made in the study of facilitative interactions and the use of shrubs as potential nurse plants (Gómez-Aparicio et al, 2004), underscoring the role of early and mid-successional shrubs for forest regeneration in burnt areas (Gómez-Aparicio et al, 2004;Siles et al, 2010). In addition, a novel focus has recently appeared in relation to the use of coarse woody debris to foster restoration success, as this debris may act as a nurse structure, improving microclimatic conditions for seedling establishment, increasing soil nutrient content and improving other physical and chemical properties of the soil Marañón-Jiménez & Castro, 2013;Marzano et al, 2013).…”

Section: Restorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reassessing global change research priorities in mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems: how far have we come and where do we go from here?

Doblas‐Miranda

Martínez‐Vilalta

Lloret

et al. 2014

Global Ecology and Biogeography

120

100

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Aim Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems serve as reference laboratories for the investigation of global change because of their transitional climate, the high spatiotemporal variability of their environmental conditions, a rich and unique biodiversity and a wide range of socio-economic conditions. As scientific development and environmental pressures increase, it is increasingly necessary to evaluate recent progress and to challenge research priorities in the face of global change. Location Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems.Methods This article revisits the research priorities proposed in a 1998 assessment.Results A new set of research priorities is proposed: (1) to establish the role of the landscape mosaic on fire-spread; (2) to further research the combined effect of different drivers on pest expansion; (3) to address the interaction between drivers of global change and recent forest management practices; (4) to obtain more realistic information on the impacts of global change and ecosystem services; (5) to assess forest mortality events associated with climatic extremes; (6) to focus global change research on identifying and managing vulnerable areas; (7) to use the functional traits concept to study resilience after disturbance; (8) to study the relationship between genotypic and phenotypic diversity as a source of forest resilience; (9) to understand the balance between C storage and water resources; (10) to analyse the interplay between landscape-scale processes and biodiversity conservation; (11) to refine models by including interactions between drivers and socio-economic contexts; (12) to understand forest-atmosphere feedbacks; (13) to represent key mechanisms linking plant hydraulics with landscape hydrology.Main conclusions (1) The interactive nature of different global change drivers remains poorly understood. (2) There is a critical need for the rapid development of regional-and global-scale models that are more tightly connected with largescale experiments, data networks and management practice. (3) More attention should be directed to drought-related forest decline and the current relevance of historical land use.

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“…In extremely degraded and highly disturbed environments like fire-prone ecosystems, plant facilitation mechanisms can act as the essential basis of restoration techniques to accelerate vegetation recovery and achieve the intended targets (Brooker et al, 2008;Gómez-Aparicio, 2009;Padilla and Pugnaire, 2006). To date, much research (mostly experimental studies) has demonstrated the facilitative effects of naturally-occurring nurse plants (shrubs, in particular;Gómez-Aparicio, 2009;Gómez-Aparicio et al, 2005;Siles et al, 2008Siles et al, , 2010 and inanimate objects (e.g., dead logs and branches; Beghin et al, 2010;Castro et al, 2011; in ecosystem regeneration after a single fire event (see reviews by Brooker et al, 2008;Padilla and Pugnaire, 2006). Yet, conventional post-fire management operations like salvage logging (i.e., the removal of burned trees and remaining woody debris) and mechanical site preparation with heavy machinery prior to seeding or planting of seedlings are widely implemented by forest administrations (see e.g., Beghin et al, 2010;Castro et al, 2011;Espelta et al, 2003;Leverkus et al, 2012), overlooking the advantages of alternative facilitation-based restoration practices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire recurrence and emergency post-fire management influence seedling recruitment and growth by altering plant interactions in fire-prone ecosystems

Taboada

Tárrega

Marcos

et al. 2017

Forest Ecology and Management

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Projections of future wildfire regimes forecast an increased frequency of large high-severity fires that create very harsh environmental conditions and constitute a challenge to post-fire ecosystem regeneration. Under these new circumstances, better knowledge of the plant interaction mechanisms underlying post-fire seedling establishment success would aid restoration management to achieve the intended targets. We evaluated the combined effect of recurrent large stand-replacing fires and conventional post-fire restoration activities (salvage logging after a single large fire, and direct seeding and linear subsoiling plus seedling planting after two subsequent large fires) on tree seedling recruitment and performance (development, annual growth, and biomass) in the early stages of succession in fire-prone maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) ecosystems. We quantified plant facilitative/competitive interactions between naturally recruited pine seedlings, neighbouring seedlings and potential nurse shrubs with different post-fire regeneration strategies (obligate seeders vs resprouters), by computing the relative interaction index (RII). The results evidenced that fire recurrence altered plant species composition and conditioned initial pine seedling recruitment and establishment, prevailing over the expected negative impact of salvage logging and positive impact of seeding. Seedling recruitment was sufficient to ensure natural tree regeneration after a single fire event and undermined by repeated fires. Both delaying burned timber removal during salvage logging operations and retaining immature dead trees without commercial value onsite in subsoiled stands enhanced seedling recruitment via facilitative interactions. Higher seedling growth and height under shrubs than in open ground resulted in lower aerial and root biomass, indicating elongation in response to shade, and net competition for resources. Inter-specific competition between naturally regenerated seedlings and shrubs was aggravated by intra-specific competition with neighbouring seedlings and by mechanical site preparation in subsoiled stands. All in all, post-burn increased soil fertility most likely counterbalanced the environmental stress created by fire, shifting the net outcome of plant interactions from positive (facilitation) to negative (competition). We recommend alternative post-fire management actions that decrease plant competition and take advantage of facilitation by residual burned wood, to ultimately accelerate ecosystem recovery after large stand-replacing fires.

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Post-fire restoration of Mediterranean forests: Testing assembly rules mediated by facilitation

Cited by 15 publications

References 32 publications

Large‐scale assessment of regeneration and diversity in Mediterranean planted pine forests along ecological gradients

Large‐scale assessment of regeneration and diversity in Mediterranean planted pine forests along ecological gradients

Reassessing global change research priorities in mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems: how far have we come and where do we go from here?

Fire recurrence and emergency post-fire management influence seedling recruitment and growth by altering plant interactions in fire-prone ecosystems

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