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Post-Fire Management of Mediterranean Broadleaved Forests

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Post-Fire Management and Restoration of Southern European Forests

Part of the book series: Managing Forest Ecosystems ((MAFE,volume 24))

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the post-fire regeneration of Mediterranean broadleaved forests, the factors that may constrain this process and the best alternatives to improve the structure and dynamics of these forests after fire. Most Mediterranean broadleaved species share in common their ability to resprout from a protected bud bank after disturbances such as fire. Yet, this ability may vary depending on the species considered, the intensity and recurrence of fire events, the quality of the site and some individual characteristics (e.g. plant size). Even though resprouting after fire assures a rapid recovery of the vegetation cover and other crucial processes and ecosystem services, these young and dense forests with multi-stemmed resprouted individuals may not fit the modern socioeconomic demands and may even become very sensitive to the spread of new fires. Therefore, a selective thinning of resprouts, retaining the larger and dominant ones, has been recommended. This management alternative has been shown to increase growth rates of retained resprouts, to raise the forest canopy and to encourage sexual reproduction. Nevertheless, attention must be paid to the new wave of resprouts that may appear after thinning. In this chapter we analyze the main constrains that affect the natural regeneration of Mediterranean broadleaved forests after fire and the best alternatives to manage natural regeneration arisen through resprouting in these areas.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Francisco Moreira and Filipe Catry for their comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. Part of the research presented in this chapter is currently funded by the projects, MCIIN (CGL2008-04847-C02-02), Consolider-Ingenio Montes (CSD2008-00040) and the Bureau of Forest Fire Prevention (OTPMIF)- Diputació de Barcelona. This chapter has also benefited from discussion in the framework of the FPS COST Action FP0701 “Post-Fire Forest Management in Southern Europe”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Sciences, CREAF and Unit of Ecology, Campus UAB, Barcelona, Spain

    Josep Maria Espelta, Lídia Quevedo, Guillermo Peguero, Marcos Fernández-Martínez & Anselm Rodrigo

  2. DIBAF, Dipartimento per la Innovazione nei Sistemi Biologici, Agroalimentari e Forestali, University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy

    Anna Barbati

  3. Ajuntament d’Esparraguera. Plaça de l’Ajuntament, Esparreguera, Spain

    Lídia Quevedo

  4. Fac Biol, Area Ecol, Univ Leon, Leon, Spain

    Reyes Tárrega

  5. Diputació de Barcelona, Bureau of Forest Fire Prevention (OTPMIF), Barcelona, Spain

    Pablo Navascués

  6. Dept. de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, UNA, Distrito Federal, Mexico

    Consuelo Bonfil

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  1. Josep Maria Espelta
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  2. Anna Barbati
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  3. Lídia Quevedo
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  4. Reyes Tárrega
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  5. Pablo Navascués
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  6. Consuelo Bonfil
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  7. Guillermo Peguero
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  8. Marcos Fernández-Martínez
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  9. Anselm Rodrigo
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Correspondence to Josep Maria Espelta .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Centre of Applied Ecology, Institute of Agronomy, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon, 1349-017, Portugal

    Francisco Moreira

  2. , Ecology and Systematics, Faculty of Biol, National and Kapodistrian University of, Panepistimiopolis, Ilisia, Athens, 15784, Greece

    Margarita Arianoutsou

  3. , Dept. for the Innovation in Biological,, University of Tuscia, Via San Camillo de Lellis Snc, Viterbo, 01100, Italy

    Piermaria Corona

  4. , Plant Production and Agronomy Technology, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario, Albacete, 02071, Spain

    Jorge De las Heras

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Espelta, J.M. et al. (2012). Post-Fire Management of Mediterranean Broadleaved Forests. In: Moreira, F., Arianoutsou, M., Corona, P., De las Heras, J. (eds) Post-Fire Management and Restoration of Southern European Forests. Managing Forest Ecosystems, vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2208-8_8

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