Changes in vegetation structure and fuel characteristics along post‐fire succession promote alternative stable states and positive fire–vegetation feedbacks

Tiribelli, Florencia; Kitzberger, Thomas; Morales, Juan Manuel

doi:10.1111/jvs.12620

Cited by 70 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 53 publications

(105 reference statements)

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“…Khalil et al, ). As we were only able to assess habitat properties once (summer 2010), it would be interesting to repeat this inventory and to study if successional changes, which are likely to be observed in the fire area (Chen, Vasiliauskas, Kayahara, & Ilisson, ; Engelmark, ; Tiribelli, Kitzberger, & Morales, ), have affected both vole density, species richness among small mammals, and PUUV prevalence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wildfire‐induced short‐term changes in a small mammal community increase prevalence of a zoonotic pathogen?

Ecke

Mahani

Evander

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Natural disturbances like droughts and fires are important determinants of wildlife community structure and are suggested to have important implications for prevalence of wildlife‐borne pathogens. After a major wildfire affecting >1,600 ha of boreal forest in Sweden in 2006, we took the rare opportunity to study the short‐term response (2007–2010 and 2015) of small mammal community structure, population dynamics, and prevalence of the Puumala orthohantavirus (PUUV) hosted by bank voles (Myodes glareolus). We performed snap‐trapping in permanent trapping plots in clear‐cuts (n = 3), unburnt reference forests (n = 7), and the fire area (n = 7) and surveyed vegetation and habitat structure. Small mammal species richness was low in all habitats (at maximum three species per trapping session), and the bank vole was the only small mammal species encountered in the fire area after the first postfire year. In autumns of years of peak rodent densities, the trapping index of bank voles was lowest in the fire area, and in two of three peak‐density years, it was highest in clear‐cuts. Age structure of bank voles varied among forest types with dominance of overwintered breeders in the fire area in the first postfire spring. PUUV infection probability in bank voles was positively related to vole age. Infection probability was highest in the fire area due to low habitat complexity in burnt forests, which possibly increased encounter rate among bank voles. Our results suggest that forest fires induce cascading effects, including fast recovery/recolonization of fire areas by generalists like bank voles, impoverished species richness of small mammals, and altered prevalence of a rodent‐borne zoonotic pathogen. Our pilot study suggests high human infection risk upon encountering a bank vole in the fire area, however, with even higher overall risk in unburnt forests due to their higher vole numbers.Open Research Badges This article has earned an Open Data Badge for making publicly available the digitally‐shareable data necessary to reproduce the reported results. The data is available at https://osf.io/6fsy3/.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wildfire‐induced short‐term changes in a small mammal community increase prevalence of a zoonotic pathogen?

Ecke

Mahani

Evander

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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“…, Tiribelli et al. ), illustrating the potential for differences in tree size arising from variation in prior interval to strongly shape post‐fire woody debris dynamics. In contrast, woody debris dynamics are likely to be much less strongly influenced by time since fire and prior fire interval in communities dominated by epicormically resprouting trees.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, Tiribelli et al. ) experiencing stand‐replacement vegetation dynamics in response to fire, albeit with differences in the scale and timing of responses reflecting differences in ecosystem productivity, decomposition processes, and biotic interactions. Specific features of the model are illustrated with photographs from our South‐Western Australian obligate‐seeder eucalypt woodland study system, as is the parameterization of woody debris temporal dynamics (Figs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1, 2; Spies et al 1988, Gosper et al 2013a. Intervals between stand-replacing fires in some communities dominated by obligate-seeder trees can range from decades to multiple centuries (Taylor et al 2014, Gosper et al 2018, Tiribelli et al 2018, illustrating the potential for differences in tree size arising from variation in prior interval to strongly shape post-fire woody debris dynamics. In contrast, woody debris dynamics are likely to be much less strongly influenced by time since fire and prior fire interval in communities dominated by epicormically resprouting trees.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our model is proposed to be relevant to all obligate-seeder dominated forests and woodlands (e.g., Eastern Australian ash eucalypt forests, many boreal, temperate, and Mediterranean forests; Lindenmayer et al 1999, Taylor et al 2014, Tiribelli et al 2018) experiencing stand-replacement vegetation dynamics in response to fire, albeit with differences in the scale and timing of responses reflecting differences in ecosystem productivity, decomposition processes, and biotic interactions. Specific features of the model are illustrated with photographs from our South-Western Australian obligate-seeder eucalypt woodland study system, as is the parameterization of woody debris temporal dynamics (Figs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Time since fire and prior fire interval shape woody debris dynamics in obligate‐seeder woodlands

Gosper

Yates²,

Fox

et al. 2019

Ecosphere

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Woody debris plays an important role in many ecosystem functions, including nutrient and carbon cycling, providing substrates for plant recruitment and habitat for fauna. Fires can affect woody debris stocks, through generating new pieces by killing or severing plant parts and consuming pre‐existing woody debris. We develop a model of woody debris dynamics with variation in time since fire and prior fire interval applicable to obligate‐seeder forests and woodlands, considering down woody debris and standing dead trees as discrete components. We then test predictions of change in woody debris derived from this model in Eucalyptus salubris woodlands in South‐Western Australia, using a multi‐century chronosequence with recent fires varying between having short (<50 yr since the previous fire) or long (>50 yr, but often much longer) prior intervals. As per our woody debris dynamics model, most attributes measured were affected by time since fire, prior fire interval, or their interaction. Woody debris biomass was greatest shortly after fire, reflecting high quantities of standing dead trees resulting from stand‐replacement disturbance. Standing dead tree density and biomass then declined with increasing time since fire, but individual dead tree size was high beyond 200 yr since fire. Down woody debris biomass remained relatively stable with time since fire, but piece size increased. Dimensions of woody debris were strongly influenced by prior fire interval, with long prior intervals resulting in pieces at least twice the size than those occurring after short prior intervals. Fire management to maximize the availability of large woody debris pieces for fauna should aim to minimize short fire intervals, while from a carbon management perspective, all fires in obligate‐seeder forests and woodlands set in train large and prolonged emissions of carbon.

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Thresholds and alternative states in a Neotropical dry forest in response to fire severity

Peinetti,

Bestelmeyer,

Chirino

et al. 2023

Ecological Applications

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Neotropical xerophytic forest ecosystems evolved with fires that shaped their resilience to disturbance events. However, it is unknown whether forest resilience to fires persists under a new fire regime influenced by anthropogenic disturbance and climate change. We asked whether there was evidence for a fire severity threshold causing an abrupt transition from a forest to an alternative shrub thicket state in the presence of typical postfire management. We studied a heterogeneous wildfire event to assess medium‐term effects (11 years) of varying fire severity in a xerophytic Caldén forest in central Argentina. We conducted vegetation surveys in patches that were exposed to low (LFS), medium (MFS), and high (HFS) fire severities but had similar prefire woody canopy cover. Satellite images were used to quantify fire severity using a delta Normalized Burning Ratio (dNBR) and to map prefire canopy cover. Postfire total woody canopy cover was higher in low and medium than high severity patches, but the understory woody component was highest in HFS patches. The density of woody plants was over three times higher under HFS than MFS and LFS due to the contribution of small woody plants to the total density. Unlike LFS and MFS patches, the small plants in HFS patches were persistent, multistem shrubs that resulted from the resprouting of top‐killed Prosopis caldenia trees and, more importantly, from young shrubs that probably established after the wildfire. Our results suggest that the Caldén forest is resilient to fires of low to moderate severities but not to high‐severity fires. Fire severities with dNBR values > ~600 triggered an abrupt transition to a shrub thicket state. Postfire grazing and controlled‐fire treatments likely contributed to shrub dominance after high‐severity wildfire. Forest to shrub thicket transitions enable recurring high‐severity fire events. We propose that repeated fires combined with grazing can trap the system in a shrub thicket state. Further studies are needed to determine whether the relationships between fire and vegetation structure examined in this case study represent general mechanisms of irreversible state changes across the Caldenal forest region and whether analogous threshold relationships exist in other fire‐prone woodland ecosystems.

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Changes in vegetation structure and fuel characteristics along post‐fire succession promote alternative stable states and positive fire–vegetation feedbacks

Cited by 70 publications

References 53 publications

Wildfire‐induced short‐term changes in a small mammal community increase prevalence of a zoonotic pathogen?

Wildfire‐induced short‐term changes in a small mammal community increase prevalence of a zoonotic pathogen?

Time since fire and prior fire interval shape woody debris dynamics in obligate‐seeder woodlands

Thresholds and alternative states in a Neotropical dry forest in response to fire severity

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