The process of vegetation recovery and burn probability changes in post-burn boreal forests in northeast China

Abstract

Background Repeated fires may slow the recovery process in burned areas, thus affecting ecological succession. Aims This paper explores the changes in likelihood of reburn and fire behaviours in various phases of vegetation recovery. Methods We used field survey data and the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) to assess vegetation recovery in boreal forests after fires at both landscape and field scales. The Burn-P3 model was used to simulate burn probability and fire behaviours and then evaluate the overall fire likelihood and potential behaviours in different recovery phases. Key results Vegetation began to recover in most burned areas within the first year after fire and reached prefire levels after 10–15 years of recovery. Vegetation in areas with steep slopes (>25°) and thin soil had not recovered after 20 years, accounting for 0.3% of the total burned area. The average burn probability and fire behaviour indices of the study area decreased significantly after fire owing to lower fuel levels. Conclusions Burned areas with steep slopes and thin soil showed slower recovery rates after fire. The recovered vegetation in most burned areas still had low burn likelihood and fire behaviours 20 years post burn. Implications Artificial regeneration and fire prevention should be carried out at highly vulnerable sites for rehabilitating forest ecosystems.

Dynamic monitoring of vegetation restoration in coal mining subsidence area: a case in Jiawang District, Xuzhou City

“…(3) For some non-residential areas where vegetation cover is still low, disturbing activities should be gradually stopped, firstly improving soil conditions through fly ash filling and other means, and then the damaged vegetation can be replanted through natural soil seed bank and natural regeneration of native plants on the one hand, and introducing new native species in combination with human intervention on the other hand, in order to accelerate ecological recovery of the damaged land [36] . Due to the characteristics of purposeful, fast and efficient artificial restoration [37] , this approach should be mainly adopted in the practice of vegetation restoration in coal mining collapsed land. The vegetation restoration strategy of roadway backfill coal mining technology proposed by Chinese scholar Zhang [38] and the method of creating artificial soil mixtures proposed by scholar Wieckol-Ryk [39] both provide better references for vegetation restoration work.…”

Forest succession trajectories after fires in valleys and on slopes in the Greater Khingan Mountains, China

“…The speed and direction of vegetation succession after fire disturbance depend on the degree and duration of environmental factors affecting vegetation growth (Cai et al 2012;Zong and Tian 2022). Light, water, and soil fertility are necessary for vegetation growth and important determinants of species composition, soil nutritional status, mobilization of elements and organic matter turnover and can change soil fertility and thus affect vegetation growth and development (Mao and Zhu 2006;Zhu et al 2021).…”

“…Initially, after fire, light, water, and soil nutrients were sufficient (Wang et al 2004(Wang et al , 2015Yang et al 2013); thus, shrubs rapidly colonized (Song et al 2010;Liu et al 2017). With increasing time, light, soil nutrients, and moisture became limited (Zong and Tian 2022). At this point, vegetation growth and development were hindered and interspecific competition became the limiting factor affecting community diversity (Chu et al 2021).…”