Differential responses of ecosystem components to a low-intensity fire in a Mediterranean forest: a three-year case study. García-Tejero, S., Taboada, Á., Tárrega, R., Salgado, J., & Marcos, E. Community Ecology, 14(1):110--120, June, 2013.
Differential responses of ecosystem components to a low-intensity fire in a Mediterranean forest: a three-year case study [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
Mediterranean forests are especially prone to fire, a periodic disturbance that affects all the ecosystem components in different ways. Gathering knowledge on the particular responses and rate of recovery of multiple ecosystem components following a wildfire is crucial to reliably evaluate its consequences on biodiversity. Using eight sampling transects, we studied the changes in four ecosystem components (topsoil, plants, carabids, and staphylinids) during three years after a spring wildfire in a Quercus pyrenaica forest; and compared them with the surrounding unburnt forest (hereafter control). We found great variety of responses to fire suggesting each component may deal with this recurring disturbance via different adaptations, and that the time spent to recover to pre-disturbance conditions depends on the group of focus. Topsoil characteristics were highly variable and minor differences were found between burnt and control transects. Plant community was considerably affected by fire but rapidly recovered exceeding the control forest in species richness and cover, partly due to proliferation of annual herbs. However, plant species composition differed between burnt and control forests during the whole study period. Carabid beetles were more abundant and richer in species in the burnt forest, thanks to the arrival of seed predators favoured by post-fire drier and warmer conditions. Staphylinid beetle composition differed between control and burnt transects during the whole period, although their abundance was strongly variable. Distinct post-fire plant, carabid and staphylinid species composition suggests scattered low-intensity wildfires in this region may help to maintain habitat heterogeneity benefiting biodiversity at the landscape scale. [Excerpt: Results] Fire effects on the topsoil characteristics were not marked [...] [\n] [...] [::Plant community] [...] In general, only annual herb richness and cover and perennial herb richness were significantly different between burnt and control transects [...]. However, time and its interaction with treatment had a big effect on all plant life forms richness and cover, rendering significant results for all of them. In general, richness and cover were lowest in burnt transects during the first year. However, shortly afterwards, they strongly increased, even outnumbering the results from control transects where plant richness and cover hardly changed through time [...]. While perennial and woody plant richness and cover steadily increased through time, reaching their peak on the third year, annual plant richness and cover reached their maxima on the second year and decreased after that. [\n] [...] [Conclusions] The wildfire had different effects on the ecosystem components studied. While topsoil features hardly differed between control and burnt transects, plant community was greatly affected by fire, although it almost recovered to prefire conditions during the following years, mainly due to resprouting of woody species. During the second and third years, annual herbs proliferated thanks to reduced competition, producing a good yield of seeds which may have fed the carabid seed predators that colonised the warm and dry burnt transects during that period, therefore increasing overall carabid richness and abundance. Staphylinid beetles were mostly negatively affected by fire during the first two years, maybe due to a decrease in the number or quality of the microhabitats they require to feed and reproduce, but their assemblages approached those of the control transects during the third sampling year. For carabids and staphylinids, control transects were spatially more different than the burnt ones as the possible pre-existing differences between burnt transects could have been overcome due to the homogenising effect of fire. All these patterns underline the fact that spring fires in Mediterranean oak forests may help to maintain the spatial heterogeneity typical of traditional management practices to which the ecosystem components are adapted (see Hjältén et al. 2010). In this sense, vegetation rapidly recovered by autosuccession, carabids increased their abundance and species richness and, together with staphylinids, they developed different assemblages from those of the unburnt surrounding forest thus enhancing biodiversity at the landscape scale.
@article{citeulike:14068802,
    abstract = {Mediterranean forests are especially prone to fire, a periodic disturbance that affects all the ecosystem components
in different ways. Gathering knowledge on the particular responses and rate of recovery of multiple ecosystem components
following a wildfire is crucial to reliably evaluate its consequences on biodiversity. Using eight sampling transects, we studied
the changes in four ecosystem components (topsoil, plants, carabids, and staphylinids) during three years after a spring wildfire
in a Quercus pyrenaica forest; and compared them with the surrounding unburnt forest (hereafter control). We found great
variety of responses to fire suggesting each component may deal with this recurring disturbance via different adaptations, and
that the time spent to recover to pre-disturbance conditions depends on the group of focus. Topsoil characteristics were highly
variable and minor differences were found between burnt and control transects. Plant community was considerably affected by
fire but rapidly recovered exceeding the control forest in species richness and cover, partly due to proliferation of annual herbs.
However, plant species composition differed between burnt and control forests during the whole study period. Carabid beetles
were more abundant and richer in species in the burnt forest, thanks to the arrival of seed predators favoured by post-fire drier
and warmer conditions. Staphylinid beetle composition differed between control and burnt transects during the whole period,
although their abundance was strongly variable. Distinct post-fire plant, carabid and staphylinid species composition suggests
scattered low-intensity wildfires in this region may help to maintain habitat heterogeneity benefiting biodiversity at the landscape
scale.

[Excerpt: Results] 
Fire effects on the topsoil characteristics were not
marked [...]
[\n] [...]

[::Plant community]

[...] In general, only annual herb richness
and cover and perennial herb richness were significantly different
between burnt and control transects [...]. However, time and its interaction with treatment had a big
effect on all plant life forms richness and cover, rendering
significant results for all of them. In general, richness and
cover were lowest in burnt transects during the first year.
However, shortly afterwards, they strongly increased, even
outnumbering the results from control transects where plant richness and cover hardly changed through time [...].
While perennial and woody plant richness and cover steadily
increased through time, reaching their peak on the third year,
annual plant richness and cover reached their maxima on the
second year and decreased after that.

[\n] [...]

[Conclusions]

The wildfire had different effects on the ecosystem components
studied. While topsoil features hardly differed between
control and burnt transects, plant community was
greatly affected by fire, although it almost recovered to prefire
conditions during the following years, mainly due to resprouting
of woody species. During the second and third
years, annual herbs proliferated thanks to reduced competition,
producing a good yield of seeds which may have fed the
carabid seed predators that colonised the warm and dry burnt
transects during that period, therefore increasing overall
carabid richness and abundance. Staphylinid beetles were
mostly negatively affected by fire during the first two years,
maybe due to a decrease in the number or quality of the microhabitats
they require to feed and reproduce, but their assemblages
approached those of the control transects during
the third sampling year. For carabids and staphylinids, control
transects were spatially more different than the burnt
ones as the possible pre-existing differences between burnt
transects could have been overcome due to the homogenising
effect of fire. All these patterns underline the fact that spring
fires in Mediterranean oak forests may help to maintain the
spatial heterogeneity typical of traditional management practices
to which the ecosystem components are adapted (see
Hj\"{a}lt\'{e}n et al. 2010). In this sense, vegetation rapidly recovered
by autosuccession, carabids increased their abundance
and species richness and, together with staphylinids, they developed
different assemblages from those of the unburnt surrounding forest thus enhancing biodiversity at the landscape
scale.},
    author = {Garc\'{\i}a-Tejero, S. and Taboada, \'{A}. and T\'{a}rrega, R. and Salgado, J. and Marcos, E.},
    citeulike-article-id = {14068802},
    citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://mfkp.org/INRMM/article/14068802},
    citeulike-linkout-1 = {https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=7209132344519171525},
    citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1556/comec.14.2013.1.12},
    doi = {10.1556/comec.14.2013.1.12},
    issn = {1585-8553},
    journal = {Community Ecology},
    keywords = {disturbances, ecosystem, forest-resources, mediterranean-region, quercus-pyrenaica, spain, species-richness, wildfires},
    month = jun,
    number = {1},
    pages = {110--120},
    posted-at = {2016-06-14 15:53:16},
    priority = {2},
    title = {{Differential responses of ecosystem components to a low-intensity fire in a Mediterranean forest: a three-year case study}},
    url = {http://mfkp.org/INRMM/article/14068802},
    volume = {14},
    year = {2013}
}

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