Achievements in Wildland Fire Ecology

1. Achievements in Wildland Fire Ecology Acquis enEcologie des Incendies de Forêt EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

2. Fire, ecosystems functioning and bio-diversity unit • Tools for assessing fire impacts • Post-fire management • Restoration • Prescribed burning EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

3. Assessing fire impacts Database of the Network of sites + Questionnaire form for the EuFireLab Experimental Sites Network More than 30 documented sites in the database EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

4. Foliar Moisture content and Predawn Water Potential for Cistus creticus in Attica Assessing fire impacts EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

5. Assessing fire impacts • SOME VARIABLES • Resprouting capacity • Seed bank • Seed persistence to fire • Post-dire seedling emergence and survival • SOME VARIABLES • Flammable compunds, resins, waxes • Fuel: fine/coarse, live/dead • SOME VARIABLES • Reproduction system • Fruit/seed, size, weight • Dispersion mode, max. minimum distance • SOME VARIABLES • Life form • Life span • Size • Root system and clonal capacity • Leaves POST-FIRE REGENERATION resprout germination VEGETATIVE TRAITS COMBUSTIBILITY REPRODUCTION EUFireLab: Database on functional traits of EU-Mediterranean plant species • 885 species (79 families)  42 traits • 6973 data • Little knowledge on post-fire regeneration capacity for many plant species EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

6. Modelling vegetation dynamics Assessing fire impacts • Objective: • Create a framework for modelling vegetation dynamics in fire prone ecosystem • Results: the LASS framework • www.ceam.es/pausas/lass.htm • It allows working with different simulation models, different resolution, different spatial and temporal scales, ... • Applications: • Modelling vegetation dynamics in fire-prone ecosystems, considering the species traits of the Mediterranean plants. • Testing the effect of different fire regimes. Large spatial and temporal scales • Input values from the Plant Trait Database EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

7. Initial F0 F80 F40 F20 F10 F5 L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 Cistus EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

8. Assessing fire impacts Post-fire impacts on vegetation • The vegetation of undisturbed mediterranean ecosystems is resilient to fire • Risks related to soil erosion and sensitivity to repeated fire events depend on the regeneration mode of the dominant species (obligate resprouters vs. obligate seeders) • In the short term, fire affects the germination rate, the growth rate and the phenology of many plant taxa • Most of the studied endemic or rare plant taxa inhabiting mediterranean ecosystems are resilient to fire unless there is a change in the fire regime or in any secondary events of disturbance • Mediterranean plant communities regenerating after fire are resilient towards invasions of alien taxa EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

9. Indiv 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 Indiv 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 Indiv 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 … … … Capture occasion fire Assesing fire impacts Population size  time 1 = Detected 0 = undetected Survival Fauna mortality

10. Assessing fire impacts Bird censuses at different date after fire (+ control censuses) Controls Correspondence Analysis time of return to the pre-fire state (resilience)

11. Post-fire management 9 years after fire Log removal: Effect on soil erosion 30% zones with intensive burned log removal Short term: rill erosion in concentrated extraction areas (Up to 51 Mg ha -1 year-1 of soil loss for theworst case) Medium term: stabilisation or decrease of erosive process at gullies EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

12. Post-fire management practices: log dams • Aims: • prevention of soil erosion, reduction of runoff rate • Construction: • on steep slopes – before autumn rains– using local logs • Problems: • logging effects – vegetation pattern – flammability EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

13. Post-fire management practices: log dams EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

14. Branch barriers (contour strips) and control (untreated) areas Post-fire management EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

15. Post-fire management Silt-fence used to monitor sediment yield Branches barriers (contour strips)in a burned and post-fire logged area Total sediment yield produced in control and treated areas during the monitoring period: July 2005-April 2006 EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

16. Emergency seeding Post-fire management Plant regeneration May 2003, 7 months after fire and after treatment aplication S+M: Seeding + Mulch S: Seeding M: Mulch without seeding EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

17. Emergency seeding Post-fire management Soil protection Infilatration capacity Soil surface compaction S+M: Seeding + Mulch S: Seeding M: Mulch without seeding C: Control Erosion EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

18. Restoration Fire-prone shrublands EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

19. Restoration Clearing & Planting clearing Clearing + planting Control plot planting EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

20. Restoration EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

21. Restoration EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

22. Prescribed burning: a tool for managing biodiversity and ecosystems functioning Context: Southern Europe: PB mainly developed for fuel management Increasing use for wildlife habitat improvement Northern Europe: Traditional silvicultural purposes (appr 2 000 ha/year in Finland) shifting to focus more on biodiversity management Restoration PB for ecosystem managements (conservation areas) (e.g. 100 ha/year in Finland) Woodland grouse habitat improvement in Scotland => Impacts of PB on ecosystem components How to conciliate protection and conservation objectives ? Forest Fuels Management in Europe http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_p041.html EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

23. Wildlife habitat improvement Bonelli eagle Luberon Regional Park France Prescribed burning EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

24. Boreal restoration treatment with fire Prescribed burning EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

25. Variations in the time to recovery to pre-burn levels of ecosystem components in maritime pine stands, NW Portugal EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006

26. Recommendations Prescribed burning • No single fire regime is optimal for all species and communities present and some fire regimes can also threaten biodiversity => Variation of PB regime in space and time • In the boreal ecosystems, fire and amount of dead wood are important factors in maintaining biodiversity - substrates for threatened species (saproxylics) • In some cases both objectives (ecosystem biodiversity and hazard-reduction) cannot be achieved simultaneously EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/2006