Early post‐fire regeneration of a Pinus halepensis forest on Mount Párnis, Greece

Abstract

Abstract. The post‐fire regeneration of a 45‐yr‐old Pinus halepensis (Aleppo pine) forest, burned in July 1989, has been studied on Mount Párnis, Attiki, Greece. Four experimental plots at various slopes and exposures were established at altitudes of 400 ‐ 450 m, and monitored for 3 yr at 3‐month intervals. Early regeneration took place abundantly, through both resprouting and seed germination of mostly hard‐seeded herbs and shrubs; the floristic richness was high with 80 taxa. Pine seedling emergence took place during the winter of the first post‐fire year. The mean pine seedling density by the end of the recruitment period (March 1990) was 5–6 seedlings/m2. This density decreased slightly during late spring and considerably during summer. During the second post‐fire year only a relatively slight decline was observed; thereafter the density was stabilized to 1 ‐ 2 seedlings/m2. Mortality follows a negative exponential curve that levels off at ca. 20 %. Height distributions throughout the three post‐fire years were all positively skewed as a result of the presence of few very tall saplings. A considerable fraction (20 %) of very short (5–15 cm) saplings were still alive 39 months after the fire; these may constitute the sapling bank. Based on the analysis of height distribution curves, it is concluded that the taller seedlings survived significantly better than the shorter ones.