The floristic changes of Scottish moorland dominated by heather (<i>Calluna vulgaris</i>, Ericaceae) but unburnt for 50 years and kept checked by moderate grazing

Welch, D.

doi:10.1080/20423489.2016.1178061

New Journal of Botany

2016

DOI: 10.1080/20423489.2016.1178061

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The floristic changes of Scottish moorland dominated by heather (Calluna vulgaris, Ericaceae) but unburnt for 50 years and kept checked by moderate grazing

D. Welch

Abstract: The floristic changes of Scottish moorland dominated by heather (Calluna vulgaris, Ericaceae) but unburnt for 50 years and kept checked by moderate grazing.

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Cited by 2 publications

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“…and Sphagnum spp. (Lee et al, 2013; Davies et al, 2016b; Milligan et al, 2018).Our results agree with previous studies in heathlands that have shown that species diversity declines with time since fire because of increased competitive dominance of Calluna and pleurocarpous mosses(Vandvik et al, 2005;Harris et al, 2011;Welch, 2016), although empirical data on peatlands is limited.Disturbance by fire can reduce competition from Calluna and pleurocarpous mosses and thus promote establishment and growth of other species (Mallik…”

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confidence: 91%

Increased fire severity alters initial vegetation regeneration across Calluna-dominated ecosystems

Grau‐Andrés

Davies

Waldron

et al. 2019

Journal of Environmental Management

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Calluna vulgaris-dominated habitats are valued for ecosystem services such as carbon storage and for their conservation importance. Climate and environmental change are altering their fire regimes. In particular, more frequent summer droughts will result in higher severity wildfires. This could alter the plant community composition of Calluna habitats and thereby influence ecosystem function. To study the effect of fire severity on community composition we used rain-out shelters to simulate drought prior to experimental burns at two Callunadominated sites, a raised bog and a heathland. We analysed species abundance in plots surveyed ca. 16 months after fire in relation to burn severity (indicated by fire-induced soil heating). We found that fire severity was an important control on community composition at both sites. Higher fire severity increased the abundance of ericoids, graminoids and acrocarpous mosses, and decreased the abundance of pleurocarpous mosses compared to lower severity fires. At the raised bog, the keystone species Sphagnum capillifolium and Eriophorum vaginatum showed no difference in regeneration with fire severity. Species and plant functional type beta-diversity increased following fire, and was similar in higher compared to lower severity burns. Our results further our understanding of the response of Calluna-dominated habitats to projected changes in fire regimes, and can assist land managers using prescribed fires in selecting burning conditions to achieve management objectives. CAVU = Calluna vulgaris, CECO = Cephalozia connivens, CL.sp = Cladonia spp., DEFL = Deschampsia flexuosa, DISC = Dicranum scoparium, Duff = Duff, ERCI = Erica cinerea, ERVA = Eriophorum vaginatum, HYJU = Hypnum jutlandicum, HYSP = Hylocomium splendens, Litter = Litter, LOBI = Lophocolea bidentata, ODSP = Odontoschisma sphagni, PLSH = Pleurozium schreberi, PLUN = Plagiothecium undulatum, POER = Potentilla erecta, POJU = Polytrichum juniperinum, RHSQ = Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus, SPCA = Sphagnum capillifolium, VAVI = Vaccinium vitis-idaea.

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supporting

confidence: 91%

Increased fire severity alters initial vegetation regeneration across Calluna-dominated ecosystems

Grau‐Andrés

Davies

Waldron

et al. 2019

Journal of Environmental Management

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Spatio‐temporal changes in the understory heterogeneity, diversity, and composition after fires of different severities in a semiarid oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.) forest

et al. 2020

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In arid and semiarid forests and rangelands, native ranchers and farmers frequently use fire as a tool to improve soil fertility and vegetation composition, and to facilitate soil tilling. Investigating changes in ecosystem characteristics after these measures is of great importance for establishing management and recovery strategies. This study aimed to investigate spatial–temporal changes in the understory heterogeneity, diversity and composition after fires of different severities in a Brant's oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.) forest. Vegetation sampling was monitored in 14 patches including unburned sites (UBN), burned sites with low fire severity after 1, 5, and 10 years (LFSO, LFSF, and LFST, respectively), and burned sites with high fire severity after 1, 5, and 10 years (HFSO, HFSF, and HFST, respectively). Fire severity and time since fire significantly affected diversity indices with the lowest values of richness, evenness and diversity in high‐severity fires, while the highest values were observed in low‐severity fires. Time since fire did not significantly affect the understory evenness in both fire severities. However, species diversity and richness in low‐severity fires decreased with time since fire while the reverse was observed in high‐severity fires. The results of a detrended correspondence analysis indicated that the severity and time since fire significantly changed vegetation composition. The largest changes in vegetation composition compared to control sites were observed in HFSO, and then in HFSF and HFST. Both fire severity and time since fire caused changes in the heterogeneity of plant communities. We concluded that the use of low‐severity fires can be suitable for maintaining and increasing the heterogeneity of understory vegetation in semiarid forest ecosystems. However, low‐severity fires have also slightly, while not significantly, increased evenness and can therefore potentially reduce the ecosystem functions of dominant species in such semiarid regions. This could mitigate the positive effect of fire on vegetation heterogeneity and necessitate further investigations.

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The floristic changes of Scottish moorland dominated by heather (Calluna vulgaris, Ericaceae) but unburnt for 50 years and kept checked by moderate grazing

Abstract: The floristic changes of Scottish moorland dominated by heather (Calluna vulgaris, Ericaceae) but unburnt for 50 years and kept checked by moderate grazing.

Cited by 2 publications

References 25 publications

Increased fire severity alters initial vegetation regeneration across Calluna-dominated ecosystems

Increased fire severity alters initial vegetation regeneration across Calluna-dominated ecosystems

Spatio‐temporal changes in the understory heterogeneity, diversity, and composition after fires of different severities in a semiarid oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.) forest

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