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Midterm fuel structure recovery and potential fire behaviour in a Pinus pinaster Ait. forest in northern central Spain after thinning and mastication

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Abstract

Pinus pinaster Ait., a prominent component of the western Mediterranean forest, is a species currently suffering a high wildfire pressure and consequently becoming a prime candidate for fuel reduction treatments. However, little is known about the efficiency and longevity of modification of the fuel complex structure for fire hazard reduction treatments in this type of forest. We examined how different levels of intense thinning plus mastication altered canopy and undercanopy fuel structure in a representative forest stand in northern central Spain and its recovery for the next 5 years. We also evaluated the midterm effect on potential fire behaviour. Five years after treatments, canopy bulk density and canopy fuel load were still significantly lower than in untreated areas. After that time, understory cover and height and available undercanopy fuel load had still not reached values similar to those in untreated areas, although undercanopy available fuel complex had similar bulk density to that in untreated areas. The treatments were efficient in reducing the crown fire susceptibility in the study period, and even 5 years after treatments modelled active crown fire did not occur in treated areas.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by Projects RTA2009-0153-C03-01 and RTA 2014-00011-C06 and the Junta de Castilla y León. This work was also co-financed by the INIA and European Social Fund (Dr. E. Jiménez grant). We are grateful to A. Arellano for valuable assistance with site selection and field and laboratory work. We also thank E. Pérez for database construction J. M. Fernández-Alonso for wildfire simulations and J.R. González, J.L. Pardo, M. Martínez and M. Lopez for assistance with field and laboratory work. We would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments and suggestions, which helped to improve an earlier version of the manuscript.

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  1. Centro de Investigación Forestal – Lourizán, PO Box 127, 36080, Pontevedra, Spain

    E. Jiménez, C. Fernández & J. A. Vega

  2. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango (México) Río Papaloapan, Valle del Sur, 34120, Durango, Dgo., Mexico

    D. Vega-Nieva

  3. Centro para la Defensa contra el Fuego, Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Junta de Castilla y León. C/Comandante Cortizo s/n., C.P. 24008, León, Spain

    E. Rey

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Jiménez, E., Vega-Nieva, D., Rey, E. et al. Midterm fuel structure recovery and potential fire behaviour in a Pinus pinaster Ait. forest in northern central Spain after thinning and mastication. Eur J Forest Res 135, 675–686 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-016-0963-x

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