Abstract

Background: In order to maximize the resiliency of Pinus halepensis in semiarid forests, we analyzed direct seeding methods to recover burned stands by simulating post-fire soil treatments. Methods: Seeding was done by installing spot seeding (100 seeds in a 50 × 50 cm plot), using five methods: (1) covering seeding with wood chips; (2) seeding in branch piles; (3) seeding along trunks on contour-felled logs (on the shaded side); (4) seeding next to grass (Stipa tenacissima); and (5) seeding on the bare ground (control). The experiment was replicated according to aspect (northern and southern aspects). The response variables were seed germination (%), and seedling survival after the summer (measured in autumn 2015 and 2016). Direct seeding was carried out in 32 plots with 160-spot seeding, and data were analyzed using general linear models, including nested random effects. Results: Wood chips as a surface-covering material represented the only treatment that significantly improved seed germination and seedling survival (by 12.4%, and 17.4 seedlings m−2 in year 2, respectively) compared with the control in the two topographic aspects. Conclusions: Covering seeding with wood chips, and thus chipping wood within the burned stand, form a recommended post-fire treatment to improve regeneration in Pinus halepensis semiarid stands.

Highlights

  • Fire is a determinant factor that plays a key role in vegetation distribution in the Mediterranean region [1,2,3]

  • Direct seeding has been defined as a difficult regeneration tool in severely drought-affected areas [25,26] our results show that this revegetation method can help to recover burned Pinus halepensis stands, and that the wood chips as a surface-covering material form a post-fire treatment that improves both seed germination and seedling survival compared with seeding on the bare ground

  • Our results suggest that Pinus halepensis seedlings were unable to tolerate the shady conditions created by contour-felled logs

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Summary

Introduction

Fire is a determinant factor that plays a key role in vegetation distribution in the Mediterranean region [1,2,3]. In Mediterranean conifer species, a critical component of the regeneration strategy after forest fires is initial seedling recruitment in the burned stand [4,5,6]. Is a Mediterranean species that is well adapted to forest fires due to its cone characteristics, seed ecology, and physiology (it is a light-demanding species) [2]. Semiarid Pinus halepensis woodlands that have experienced wildfire are susceptible to erosion, as wildfires occur prior to precipitation in the fall [3]. In order to maximize the resiliency of Pinus halepensis in semiarid forests, we analyzed direct seeding methods to recover burned stands by simulating post-fire soil treatments

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