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Predicting time-windows for full recovery of postfire regenerating Pinus halepensis Mill. forests after a future wildfire

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Abstract

A regeneration predictor (RP) has been elaborated to forecast the minimal inter-fire period, required for full recovery (assumed at 1,000 mature stems ha−1, a typical value for a dense pine forest) of an even-aged, postfire regenerating Pinus halepensis population after a subsequent wildfire, in the future. The study has been conducted in three Aleppo pine forests of northern Euboea Island, Greece. Postfire field surveys of sapling growth, sapling density and reproductive dynamics (cone-bearing population fraction, annual cone and seed production per sapling, canopy seed bank build-up) were carried out for three, consecutive growing seasons (years). Additional postfire parameters, with values estimated from literature data, have been also included in order to devise the RP. In the cases of the three populations studied, the application of this RP provides time-windows for full recovery after a recurrent fire, as short as 10–15, 8–11 and 7–11 years, respectively (values corresponding to best and worst scenarios). It is suggested that in even-aged, postfire regenerating Aleppo pine populations, the minimal inter-fire period required for full recovery can be predicted by monitoring a few selected variables, namely (a) sapling density, (b) vegetative to reproductive shift dynamics, and (c) cones/sapling and germinable seeds/cone, for at least 2 years (either consecutive or 2–3 years apart) at a postfire age of 7–12 years.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge financial support of the “Strategic management plan of P. halepensis forests”, a task implemented within the framework of TWIG (Transnational Woodland Industries Group) project under RECITE II Programme, European Commission, DG XVI. We are grateful to our colleagues: George Vassilopoulos, Katerina Koutsovoulou, Marios Andreou, Argyro Zerva and Athanasia Pikradi for their contribution to field data collection and laboratory experiments. We also thank Ioannis Tsaprounis, Forest Department of Limni, Euboea Island, for his assistance and Dr Pinelopi Delipetrou for her valuable help in statistical analysis. We finally acknowledge the helpful comments and suggestions of two anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hellenic Agricultural Organization “Demeter”, Institute of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems and Forest Products Technology, P.O. Box 14180, Terma Alkmanos Str., 11528, Athens, Greece

    Evangelia N. Daskalakou, Kosmas Albanis & Asimina Skouteri

  2. Department of Botany, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, 15784, Athens, Greece

    Costas A. Thanos

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  1. Evangelia N. Daskalakou
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  2. Kosmas Albanis
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  3. Asimina Skouteri
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  4. Costas A. Thanos
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Correspondence to Evangelia N. Daskalakou.

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Daskalakou, E.N., Albanis, K., Skouteri, A. et al. Predicting time-windows for full recovery of postfire regenerating Pinus halepensis Mill. forests after a future wildfire. New Forests 45, 53–70 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-013-9391-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-013-9391-7

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