Abstract
Abstract. The effects of management after fire in Pinus halepensis forests were assessed in northern Greece. Seeding, logging and building of log barriers were applied in burned sites and compared to a control site. Two years after treatment application, 70–80% of the ground in all sites was covered with vegetation. Seeding with herbaceous plants did not increase plant cover. Logging and building of log barriers negatively affected herbaceous species but increased woody species. During the first spring after fire, the highest numbers of P. halepensis seedlings were observed in the control site and the lowest number in the logged site. Logging and log barrier building had a negative effect on pine regeneration compared to control and seeding treatments. Woody plant composition was similar in control and seeding sites, with dominance of P. halepensis and Cistus species. A different pattern was observed in the logging and log-barrier sites with a low number of seeders and a high number of resprouter species.
Highlights
The effects of management after fire in Pinus halepensis forests were assessed in northern Greece
Wildfires often occur in Mediterranean forests that usually recover through natural regeneration (Trabaud 1994, Ne’eman 1997, Pausas et al 1999, Leone et al 2000)
We assessed the effects of postfire management practices on P. halepensis forest recovery in northern Greece
Summary
The effects of management after fire in Pinus halepensis forests were assessed in northern Greece. Logging and log barrier building had a negative effect on pine regeneration compared to control and seeding treatments. Post-fire rehabilitation treatments can be important in minimizing damage to soil, water and plant resources (Vallejo et al 2000) Rehabilitation methods such as grass seeding, logging, building of branch barriers and mulching have been widely used, little information is available (Robichaud et al 2000). Restoration activities such as tree felling (to create terraces with dead trees) and planting trees can be harmful if these actions are not implemented at the right time (Ubeda et al 2006). We assessed the effects of postfire management practices on P. halepensis forest recovery in northern Greece
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