Assessing the post-fire recovery in the southeast coast of China during the early period

Abstract

Understanding post-fire recovery is important for post-fire management. However, an in-depth evaluation of the spatiotemporal dynamics of burn degree is rarely reported around the world. This study aimed to assess the changes in the degree of burn during the early post-burn period (June 15, 2018–July 27, 2019) to influence the post-fire management. The dNBR-based burn index model was used to estimate the changes in burn degree. The results revealed that the burn degree had decreased from severe burns on June 15, 2018 to moderate burns on July 27, 2019, and the post-fire recovery period takes a long time. The rate of decrease in burn degree in the latter period (January 25, 2019–July 27, 2019) was much higher than that in the earlier period (June 15, 2018–January 25, 2019). The survival and growth of Dicranopteris pedata primarily led to a marked reduction in the burn degree in the latter period. The burned areas would have a markedly negative effect on the environment in the earlier period (within approximately half a year after the fire). Moreover, the lower severely burned sites can continue to degenerate and translated into higher ones during the earlier period owing to poor environmental conditions for the growth of vegetation and the influence of seasonal changes. These findings emphasize the importance of the timely strengthening of the earlier post-fire recovery in our area. In brief, our study enriches the knowledge of the early post-fire recovery in southeast China.