Resilience of temperate peatland vegetation communities to wildfire depends upon burn severity and pre‐fire species composition

Abstract

Peatland ecosystems are of global conservation and environmental importance storing globally significant amounts of ancient carbon, regulating regional temperatures and hydrological regimes, and supporting unique biodiversity. Livestock grazing, land‐use change, drainage, nutrient and acid deposition, and wildfire threaten the composition and function of many peatlands including those in the uplands of the United Kingdom. Presently, little is known about either the short‐ or long‐term effects of wildfires within these systems in the UK. Our study aimed to evaluate how plant communities respond to wildfires across a range of vegetation communities, soil types, and burn severities. We evaluated wildfire burn severity using the ground‐based Composite Burn Index adapted for treeless peatlands. Using paired burned–unburned plots, we quantified differences in the abundance of plant families and functional groups, vegetation diversity, and community composition. Multivariate differences in composition between burned and unburned areas were used as an index of community resilience to fire. Plots in heathland communities with shallow organic soils burned at the highest severities and had the greatest reductions in plant diversity and richness. There were significant declines in plot‐scale species richness and diversity with increasing burn severity. Graminoids were resilient to fire whilst Ericaceae tended to increase with higher severity. Bryophyte composition was substantially altered—pleurocarpous species declined and acrocarpous species increased with greater burn severity. Community resilience was related to ground layer burn severity with higher burn severity driving greater changes in communities. Wildfire effects on temperate peatlands are a function of fire weather and site environmental and ecological characteristics. Management policy should ensure that the risk of severe wildfires is mitigated to protect ecosystem function and biodiversity. This will require system‐specific fire management prescriptions across the gradient of peatland soil and vegetation types.

Analysis of Wildfire Danger Level Using Logistic Regression Model in Sichuan Province, China

“…Extreme heat, e.g., severe and long-lasting heatwaves and droughts [19,20], can lead to more frequent wildfires [21][22][23] and can lengthen the global wildfire weather season [24]. Some vegetation that does not normally burn becomes dry and flammable [25,26], like tropical rainforests [27], permafrost [28,29], and peat bogs [30].…”

Modeling of Evaporation Rate for Peatland Fire Prevention Using Internet of Things (IoT) System

“…Firstly, our study focuses on tropical peatland forests, which present unique challenges and require tailored fire prevention strategies. Previous studies have primarily focused on temperate regions [22,23], overlooking tropical peatlands' distinct characteristics and complexities [24,25]. By investigating fire prevention in these ecosystems, we contribute to filling the research gap in understanding and managing fire risks in this specific context.…”

The Classification and Characterization of Canadian Boreal Peatland Sub-classes

“…This framework depends on a map of peatland sub-classes overlaid with a fuels map to simulate wildfire spread . Peatland vegetation height information is also important as variations in vegetation can result in different fire behaviour (Davies et al, 2023) and depth of burn in peatlands (Benscoter et al, 2011). As temperatures increase and drought conditions worsen in the Boreal Forest Price et al (2013) the creation of a national map of peatland sub-classes and descriptions of vegetation height characteristics will facilitate the modeling of wildfire behavior throughout the Boreal Forest.…”