Post‐fire bryophyte dynamics in Mediterranean vegetation

Esposito, Assunta; Mazzoleni, Stefano; Strumia, Sandro

doi:10.2307/3237147

Cited by 64 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Greene et al 1990). Nevertheless, cryptogams were clearly able to recover within short timeframes in our study, contrasting with Morgan (2004) and Greene et al (1990), but consistent with Esposito et al (1999) and Morgan (2006).…”

Section: Frequent Burningcontrasting

confidence: 68%

Frequent fire promotes diversity and cover of biological soil crusts in a derived temperate grassland

et al. 2009

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The intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH) predicts that species diversity is maximized at moderate disturbance levels. This model is often applied to grassy ecosystems, where disturbance can be important for maintaining vascular plant composition and diversity. However, effects of disturbance type and frequency on cover and diversity of non-vascular plants comprising biological soil crusts are poorly known, despite their potentially important role in ecosystem function. We established replicated disturbance regimes of different type (fire vs. mowing) and frequency (2, 4, 8 yearly and unburnt) in a high-quality, representative Themeda australis-Poa sieberiana derived grassland in south-eastern Australia. Effects on soil crust bryophytes and lichens (hereafter cryptogams) were measured after 12 years. Consistent with expectations under IDH, cryptogam richness and abundance declined under no disturbance, likely due to competitive exclusion by vascular plants as well as high soil turnover by soil invertebrates beneath thick grass. Disturbance type was also significant, with burning enhancing richness and abundance more than mowing. Contrary to expectations, however, cryptogam richness increased most dramatically under our most frequent and recent (2 year) burning regime, even when changes in abundance were accounted for by rarefaction analysis. Thus, from the perspective of cryptogams, 2-year burning was not an adequately severe disturbance regime to reduce diversity, highlighting the difficulty associated with expression of disturbance gradients in the application of IDH. Indeed, significant correlations with grassland structure suggest that cryptogam abundance and diversity in this relatively mesic (600 mm annual rainfall) grassland is maximised by frequent fires that reduce vegetation and litter cover, providing light, open areas and stable soil surfaces for colonisation. This contrasts with detrimental effects of 2-year burning on native perennial grasses, indicating that this proliferation of cryptogams has potentially high functional significance for situations where vegetation cover is depleted, particularly for reducing soil erosion.

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Section: Frequent Burningcontrasting

confidence: 68%

Frequent fire promotes diversity and cover of biological soil crusts in a derived temperate grassland

et al. 2009

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“…The climate is Mediterranean, with a mean annual temperature and rainfall of 13.6°C and 761 mm, respectively, and the site is characterised by rainy spring and autumn seasons and by a drought period in summer (Esposito et al 1999). Figure 1a-c shows the Bagnouls-Gaussen diagrams relative to the study period, constructed using the meteorological data of the Grazzanise meteo station (CS,Campania,UTM33: x(m) 424.952,82;y(m) 4.549.607,23).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of different fire intensities on chemical and biological soil components and related feedbacks on a Mediterranean shrub (Phillyrea angustifolia L.)

et al. 2009

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In July 2000, six plots of Mediterranean maquis in the Castel Volturno Nature Reserve were burnt at two intensity levels to examine the effects of fire intensities on chemical and biological soil components and their relationships with ecophysiological processes of Phillyrea angustifolia L. Net photosynthesis and stomatal conductance, as well as P availability, were higher in burnt plots than in control plots, even 2 years after fire; the TM density of total soil microfungi was significantly lower in the first 8 months after fire, while xerotolerant and heat-stimulated soil microfungi were still higher 2 years after fire. Significant correlations between photosynthesis and stomatal conductance in resprouts and mycorrhizal status, as well as changes in the soil fungal components of the communities, suggest that both soil and mycorrhizal fungi play a role in immobilizing and translocating nutrients temporarily released in the below-ground system by fire. Nutrient balance interacts with physiological processes, and a feedback mechanism is well represented by stomatal conductance, which allows both the influx of water and mineral nutrients from the soil; moreover, the post-fire increase in photosynthetic activity promotes vigorous resprouting and may lead to increased availability of carbohydrates for soil biota and, consequently, to enhanced vegetation resilience

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“…In the context of community composition, resistance is measured as similarity in species composition before and after disturbance, whereas resilience is defined as the time needed for the species composition on a site to return to its original state after a disturbance (Halpern 1988;Moretti et al 2006;Bruelheide and Luginbühl 2009). The impact of fire disturbance on plants has been investigated both in terms of resistance and resilience of species richness or abundance of certain functional groups (Keeley et al 1981;Delarze et al 1992;Esposito et al 1999;Kazanis and Arianoutsou 2004). As a general pattern, succession of post-fire plant communities has been found to be a function of survival of propagules (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ectomycorrhiza succession patterns in Pinus sylvestris forests after stand-replacing fire in the Central Alps

et al. 2011

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Fires shape fundamental properties of many forest ecosystems and climate change will increase their relevance in regions where fires occur infrequently today. In ecosystems that are not adapted to fire, post-fire tree recruitment is often sparse, a fact that might be attributed to a transient lack of mycorrhizae. Ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungi play an important role for recruitment by enhancing nutrient and water uptake of their hosts. The questions arise whether and for how long the EcM community is transformed by fire. We investigated the resistance and resilience of EcM fungal communities on a chronosequence of 12 Pinus sylvestris stands in Valais (Switzerland) and Val d'Aosta (Italy) affected by fire between 1990 and 2006. Soil samples from burnt and non-burnt forests were analyzed with respect to EcM fungi by means of a bioassay. The number of EcM species was significantly lower in samples from recently (2-5 years) burnt sites than nonburnt forest, and increased with time since fire reaching levels of adjacent forests after 15-18 years. Community composition changed after fire but did not converge to that of non-burnt sites over the 18 year period. Only Rhizopogon roseolus and Cenococcum geophilum were abundant in both burnt sites and adjacent forest. Our data indicate fire resistance of some EcM fungal species as well as rapid resilience in terms of species number, but not in species composition. As long as the function of different EcM species for seedling establishment is unknown, the consequences of long-term shifts in EcM community composition for tree recruitment remain unclear.

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Post‐fire bryophyte dynamics in Mediterranean vegetation

Cited by 64 publications

References 30 publications

Frequent fire promotes diversity and cover of biological soil crusts in a derived temperate grassland

Frequent fire promotes diversity and cover of biological soil crusts in a derived temperate grassland

Effects of different fire intensities on chemical and biological soil components and related feedbacks on a Mediterranean shrub (Phillyrea angustifolia L.)

Ectomycorrhiza succession patterns in Pinus sylvestris forests after stand-replacing fire in the Central Alps

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