寒温带湿地火后植被恢复的影响因子

寒温带湿地在维护区域生态平衡方面发挥着重要作用.火是湿地的重要干扰因子.重度火烧会导致湿地生态功能明显退化.火后植被恢复,特别是火后早期植被的恢复是生态系统功能恢复的前提和基础.本文对火后湿地植被恢复影响因子的国内外研究进展进行了综述.寒温带湿地火后植被恢复受到火强度、火面积、火前植被类型、物种更新特性、立地条件等多因子的制约.寒温带湿地火后恢复的长期监测、植被恢复的关键影响因子、冻土层在植被恢复过程中的作用、植被恢复的理论与技术将是今后研究的重要方向.     

On ecology of post-fire soil fungi: assessing impact of disturbance using species-abundance models as measure of community organization

Mediterranean ecosystems are among those most significantly modified by fires. Such fires lead to evident disturbance of the above- and below-ground ecosystem components, at various spatial and temporal scales, including soil microfungi. The ecological parameters used to measure the effects of disturbance on soil fungal communities include species-abundance distribution patterns, which reflect changes in the relationships between species numbers and their relative abundance, and serve as a critical measure of community organization. Species-abundance distribution patterns were used to assess the disturbance impact of experimental fires on soil fungal communities in Mediterranean maquis (southern Italy) in the short- to mid-term. The trend in the distribution patterns of heat-stimulated and xerotolerant soil fungi over time, their varying responses to low- and high-intensity fire, the efficiency of the soil germplasm bank, and the pivotal role of Neosartorya spp. in post-fire community structure in Mediterranean burned soils may all be used as tools to accurately assess the effects of fire on soil mycobiota.     

黑龙江省大兴安岭林区火烧迹地森林更新及其影响因子

林火干扰是大兴安岭森林更新的影响因子之一,研究火烧迹地森林更新的影响因子(立地条件、火前植被、火干扰特征)对理解生态系统的结构、功能和火后演替轨迹具有重要意义。选取呼中及新林林业局55个代表性火烧样地,利用增强回归树分析法分析了火烧迹地森林更新的影响因素。结果表明:(1)立地条件是影响针、阔叶树更新苗密度的主要因素;海拔对针叶树更新苗密度的影响最大;坡度对阔叶树更新苗密度影响最大;(2)距上次火烧时间对针叶树更新苗比重影响最大,其次是林型;(3)中度林火干扰后森林更新状况好于轻度和重度火烧迹地。根据火烧迹地森林更新调查分析可知:林型影响火后演替模式,火前为针叶树或阔叶树纯林,火后易发生自我更新(火后树种更新组成与火前林型相同),而针阔混交林在火干扰影响下易于发生序列演替(火后初期以早期演替树种更新为主)。     

Quantifying disturbance resistance in an ecologically dominant species: a robust design analysis

Disturbance is now recognized as a key ecosystem process but few studies have examined its indirect effects on individuals in a population or its relationship to ecological dominance in a community. Using an ecologically dominant small mammal population in experimentally burned habitat as a model, I empirically tested the effect of disturbance on survival, abundance and fecundity and investigated whether recently burned habitat is a population sink. I also examined the effect of fire on community diversity, particularly how fire influenced dominance by bushveld gerbils Tatera leucogaster (Peters 1852). Live trapping in the first year post-fire yielded a total of 4,774 captures of 1,076 individual bushveld gerbils in a tropical savanna in southern Africa. The robust design allowed for an investigation of the effects of fire, sex and temporal variation on survival while controlling for potential differences in detection and temporary emigration. Although there were fewer individuals in burned savanna during the first 6 months post-fire, their apparent monthly survival was not significantly lowered compared with the control, with males and females surviving equally well. Fecundity, represented by proportion of females lactating, was unaffected by fire and, overall, recently burned habitat does not appear to be sink habitat. The disturbance resistance exhibited by this species is likely a contributing factor to its ecological dominance in the area, which is subject to relatively frequent fires. Results of this study highlight the need to consider disturbance regimes when evaluating patterns of species richness and evenness in an ecosystem.     

Species richness of soil gamasid mites (Acari: Mesostigmata) in fire-damaged mountain sites

Gamasid mites are important regulators of soil food webs in forest ecosystems. Wildfire is a dominant disturbance factor in forest ecosystems. We assessed the impact of fire on the species composition of soil gamasid mites at mountain sites following fires of four different degrees of severity and at one control site (5 years post-fire). In total, 14 families, 28 genera, and 54 species or species complexes were found. The abundance and richness were poor in severely burned sites compared to the less damaged sites. The different species compositions, especially in the medium-burned site, require further ecological study to improve our understanding. The fire response and recovery processes of selected species are also discussed.     

Moderate patchiness optimizes heterogeneity,stability, and beta diversity in mesic grassland

Heterogeneous disturbance patterns are fundamental to rangeland conservation and management because heterogeneity creates patchy vegetation, broadens niche availability, increases compositional dissimilarity, and enhances temporal stability of aboveground biomass production. Pyrodiversity is a popular concept for how variability in fire as an ecological disturbance can enhance heterogeneity, but mechanistic understanding of factors that drive heterogeneity is lacking. Mesic grasslands are examples of ecosystems in which pyrodiversity is linked strongly to broad ecological processes such as trophic interactions because grazers are attracted to recently burned areas, creating a unique ecological disturbance referred to as the fire–grazing interaction, or pyric herbivory. But several questions about the application of pyric herbivory remain: What proportion of a grazed landscape must burn, or how many patches are required, to create sufficient spatial heterogeneity and reduce temporal variability? How frequently should patches burn? Does season of fire matter? To bring theory into applied practice, we studied a gradient of grazed tallgrass prairie landscapes created by different sizes, seasons, and frequencies of fire, and used analyses sensitive to nonlinear trends. The greatest spatial heterogeneity and lowest temporal variability in aboveground plant biomass, and greatest plant functional group beta diversity, occurred in landscapes with three to four patches (25%–33% of area burned) and three‐ to four‐year fire return intervals. Beta diversity had a positive association with spatial heterogeneity and negative relationship with temporal variability. Rather than prescribing that these results constitute best management practices, we emphasize the flexibility offered by interactions between patch number and fire frequency for matching rangeland productivity and offtake to specific management goals. As we observed no differences across season of fire, we recommend future research focus on fire frequency within a moderate proportion of the landscape burned, and consider a wider seasonal burn window.     

Fire mediated patterns of population densities in mountain big sagebrush bird communities

We employed a chronosequence approach to evaluate patterns of bird abundance in relation to post-fire vegetation recovery in mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata vaseyana). We estimated population density for 12 species of birds within the perimeters of 4 fires that had undergone 8–20 years of vegetation recovery and on adjacent unburned areas in the northwestern Great Basin, USA. Six species showed negative responses to fire persisting up to 20 years. Two species showed positive responses with effects persisting for <20 years. Understory vegetation was similar between burned and unburned areas irrespective of recovery time, and shrub canopy cover was similar between burned and unburned sites after 20 years of recovery. Persistent reductions in bird densities lead us to conclude that shrub canopy cover alone is not a sufficient metric for predicting recovery of songbird abundances following disturbance in mountain big sagebrush. © 2013 The Wildlife Society.     

火干扰对森林生态系统土壤呼吸组分的影响研究进展

土壤呼吸是陆地生态系统与大气碳交换的主要方式,主要分为自养呼吸和异养呼吸。土壤呼吸不仅是森林生态系统碳循环过程的关键环节,也是森林生态系统能量流动和物质循环的重要生态过程。火作为森林生态系统中一个重要的生态因子,可以在短时间内对土壤呼吸组分造成巨大的影响。火干扰对土壤呼吸组分的影响与火烧强度、火烧频率、火烧持续时间以及火后恢复等因子有关,通过影响植被的根系与组成、微生物群落数量与结构,凋落物的数量以及生态系统的环境和小气候等,进而对土壤呼吸产生影响。火干扰对土壤呼吸影响整体表现为火烧后土壤呼吸速率下降,在几个月至几年内恢复到火烧前水平,之后火继续对土壤呼吸产生影响长达数年至数十年。通过描述火烧强度、火烧频率以及火后恢复时间,阐述火干扰对土壤呼吸组分的直接影响,以及通过火后环境对土壤呼吸组分产生的间接影响,来揭示火干扰对森林生态系统土壤呼吸组分的影响。同时针对火干扰对土壤呼吸组分的影响进行以下3个方面的研究展望：（1）火后产生的黑碳对土壤呼吸组分的影响;（2）火后植被恢复对土壤呼吸组分产生的影响;（3）火后土壤呼吸组分的长期变化规律。     

Post‐fire recovery of revegetated woodland communities in south‐eastern Australia

The primary goal of restoration is to create self‐sustaining ecological communities that are resilient to periodic disturbance. Currently, little is known about how restored communities respond to disturbance events such as fire and how this response compares to remnant vegetation. Following the 2003 fires in south‐eastern Australia we examined the post‐fire response of revegetation plantings and compared this to remnant vegetation. Ten burnt and 10 unburnt (control) sites were assessed for each of three types of vegetation (direct seeding revegetation, revegetation using nursery seedlings (tubestock) and remnant woodland). Sixty sampling sites were surveyed 6 months after fire to quantify the initial survival of mid‐ and overstorey plant species in each type of vegetation. Three and 5 years after fire all sites were resurveyed to assess vegetation structure, species diversity and vigour, as well as indicators of soil function. Overall, revegetation showed high (>60%) post‐fire survival, but this varied among species depending on regeneration strategy (obligate seeder or resprouter). The native ground cover, mid‐ and overstorey in both types of plantings showed rapid recovery of vegetation structure and cover within 3 years of fire. This recovery was similar to the burnt remnant woodlands. Non‐native (exotic) ground cover initially increased after fire, but was no different in burnt and unburnt sites 5 years after fire. Fire had no effect on species richness, but burnt direct seeding sites had reduced species diversity (Simpson's Diversity Index) while diversity was higher in burnt remnant woodlands. Indices of soil function in all types of vegetation had recovered to levels found in unburnt sites 5 years after fire. These results indicate that even young revegetation (stands <10 years old) showed substantial recovery from disturbance by fire. This suggests that revegetation can provide an important basis for restoring woodland communities in the fire‐prone Australian environment.     

Vegetation changes caused by recent fires in the northern boreal forest of eastern Canada

Abstract. From 1980–1989, fires burned 32 440 km² of boreal forest, 200 km south of the forest-tundra border in northern Québec, Canada. An assessment of the impact of fire on tree population densities was carried out by comparing the number of Pinus banksiana and Picea mariana in 83 sites before and after the sites burned in 1981, 1983, 1988 or 1989. Age structure analysis of post-fire populations burned in 1972, 1976 and 1983, along with the rapid exhaustion of the seed bank from burned trees, suggest that the majority of seedlings were established within 3 to 10 yr after fire. Consequently, given the absence of nearby living seed bearers, little (if any) further recruitment can be expected in the even-aged, regenerating populations. According to the tree density comparison (pre-fire vs post-fire), a shift from Picea- to Pinus-dominated communities occurred in most of the sites burned in 1981 or 1983, and in some of the sites burned in 1988 or 1989. The 1988 fire reduced the tree population density by 95% in 10 of the 15 sites; total tree density decreased by at least 75% in 28 out of 40 sites burned in 1989. This suggests that the areas burned in 1988 and 1989 will mainly regenerate as very open forests or lichen-heath communities that are more commonly found in the forest-tundra zone, north of the study area. Fire intensity, short fire interval, and unfavorable climate during and after fires are three plausible mechanisms associated with these post-fire vegetation changes.     

Local lithological drivers of post-fire vegetation recovery and implications for fire-prone regions

Local ecosystem resilience to fire disturbance can be influenced by multiple factors, from topography and climate, to fire history and pre-fire structure of biotic communities. Here we investigated the factors affecting post-fire recovery of scrub vegetation in areas under Mediterranean climate affected by frequent fires. We hypothesized that, under comparable climatic and topographic conditions, geological factors (with bedrock type as a proxy) would be at least as important as fire history in explaining patterns of post-fire recovery. We surveyed scrub vegetation in a mountain study area in Portugal, using a stratified random sampling scheme, with fire frequency, time since last fire, and bedrock type (granite vs. schist) as stratifying layers. Based on vegetation and plant community data from 40 plots, we analyzed total species richness and composition, and the relative abundance of functional groups defined on the basis of general (non fire-specific) life-history traits. We found that, at a local scale, lithology can override fire history in determining post-fire recovery. Vegetation plots on granite exhibited a considerable development of tall scrubs and higher values of total species richness. They also hosted higher numbers of animal-dispersed woody species, of trees and tall scrubs, of woody deciduous species, and of forest, edge and tall scrub species. Differences in the post-fire development of scrub vegetation and in the functional profile of plant communities highlight the need to consider local geological diversity when establishing priorities for post-fire active restoration under scenarios of limited resources.     

Long-term post-fire resprouting dynamics and reproduction of woody species in a Brazilian savanna

Resprouting is an efficient life history strategy by which woody savanna species can recover their aboveground biomass after fire. However, resprouting dynamics after fire and the time it takes to start producing flowers and fruits are still poorly understood, especially for the Brazilian savanna (Cerrado biome), where fire is an important driver of vegetation structure and ecosystem functioning. We investigated the resprouting dynamics and production of flowers and fruits of 26 woody species (20 tree and 6 shrub species for a total of 485 individuals) that were burned and the production of flowers and fruits for a subset of 12 species (139 individuals) in an unburned area in a Brazilian savanna. We classified the species’ resprouting strategies as hypogeal (at the soil level, with main stem death), epigeal (on the main stem or crown), and hypogeal + epigeal. We used generalized linear mixed-effect models to identify the post-fire recovery patterns for five years. Individuals with basal resprouts (hypogeal and hypogeal + epigeal resprouting) produced an average of 6 basal resprouts, but only 33% of resprouts survived after five years. Individuals in burned areas produced fewer flowers and fruits than individuals in unburned areas. At least a subset of individuals in all the resprouting strategies started to produce flowers and fruits in the first-year post-fire. About 68% of the species with hypogeal resprouts produced flowers and fruits in the first-year post-fire, but the intensity of flowering and fruiting was lower compared to individuals with other resprouting strategies over time. Although woody species have invested in post-fire growth and sexual reproduction in all resprouting strategies, the long time needed to recover these processes can make these species more vulnerable to frequent fires.     

兴安落叶松林火烧迹地土壤理化性质驱动因子

探索火烧迹地土壤理化性质的驱动因子是解释生态系统响应火干扰机制的重要组成部分。旨在分析兴安落叶松林火烧迹地土壤理化性质的决定因子,深入认识火干扰在北方森林生态系统所扮演的角色,为北方森林火烧迹地火后恢复、林业可持续发展提供科学支持和理论依据。以过火后1 a的兴安落叶松林火烧迹地为研究对象,设置了不同火烈度和立地条件的火烧迹地及对照研究样地共计35块。在每个研究样地记录了树种、胸径、存活状态等乔木数据,测量了坡向、坡位、坡度、海拔等地形数据,利用植被变化情况量化了火烈度。分别采集了0—5 cm和5—10 cm的土壤样品并测定其9种理化指标,对比了过火与未过火样地这些土壤理化指标的差异。然后,分析了各土壤理化指标与火烈度量化结果的关联趋势,比较了火烈度、地形和乔木因子对火烧迹地土壤理化性质的影响程度。与对照样地相比,火干扰提升了土壤理化指标观测值的离散程度,显著提高了0—5 cm土壤含水率(MC)(P<0.05)和5—10 cm土壤MC、总氮(TN)、总有机碳(TOC)含量(P<0.05)。土壤理化性质与火烈度有明显关联趋势的并不多,观察到0—5 cm土壤MC随火烈度指数的增加...     

Reproductive traits of Pinus halepensis in the light of fire – a critical review

Fire is known to be a major factor in shaping plants and vegetation worldwide. Many plant traits have been described as adaptations for surviving fire, or regenerating after it. However, many of the traits are also advantageous for overcoming other disturbances. The fact that fire in the Mediterranean Basin has been almost exclusively of anthropogenic origin, and thus is of short duration in an evolutionary time scale, cast doubt on the possibility that fire can act as a selective force in the Mediterranean Basin. Our aim here is to review the ecological advantages of Pinus halepensis traits and their possibility to be selected by fire. The non-self pruning of cones and branches, and the high resin content increase the probability of canopy fires and consequent death of P. halepensis trees. Post-fire regeneration of P. halepensis depends totally upon its canopy-stored seed bank. The seedlings grow quickly and they first reproduce at an early age. Young reproductive trees function first as females with a high percentage of serotinous cones. Thus, young P. halepensistrees allocate many resources to seed production, reducing their `immaturity risk' in a case of an early successive fire. The proportion of serotinous cones is higher in post-fire naturally regenerating stands than in unburned stands, and seeds from serotinous cones germinate better under simulated post-fire conditions. The extremely high pH of the ash-bed under the burned canopies creates the post-fire regeneration niche of P. halepensis exactly under their parent trees. All these traits are advantageous for post-fire regeneration, but could they also be selected during the time scale of anthropogenic fires in the Mediterranean Basin? Pinus halepensis is a relatively short living tree with almost no recruitment under forest canopy. The longest estimated fire-return interval and generation length are about 125 years. The earliest solid evidence for the first hominid-controlled fire in the Mediterranean basin is 780,000 years ago, and thus the estimated number of post-fire generations is 6240. We suggest that such a number of generations is sufficient for the selection and radiation of fire adaptive traits in P. halepensis.

     

Succession-driven changes in soil respiration following fire in black spruce stands of interior Alaska

Boreal forests are highly susceptible to wildfire, and post-fire changes in soil temperature and moisture have the potential to transform large areas of the landscape from a net sink to a net source of carbon (C). Understanding the ecological controls that regulate these disturbance effects is critical to developing models of ecosystem response to changes in fire frequency and severity. This paper combines laboratory and field measurements along a chronosequence of burned black spruce stands into regression analyses and models that assess relationships between moss succession, soil microclimate, decomposition, and C source-sink dynamics. Results indicate that post-fire changes in temperature and substrate quality increased decomposition in humic materials by a factor of 3.0 to 4.0 in the first 7 years after fire. Bryophyte species exhibited a distinct successional pattern in the first five decades after fire that corresponded to decreased soil temperature and increased C accumulation in organic soils. Potential rates of C exchange in mosses were greatest in early successional species and declined as the stand matured. Residual sources of CO₂ (those not attributed to moss respiration or humic decomposition) increased as a function of stand age, reflecting increased contributions from roots as the stand recovered from disturbance. Together, the field measurements, laboratory experiments, and models provide strong evidence that interactions between moss and plant succession, soil temperature, and soil moisture largely regulate C source-sink dynamics from black spruce systems in the first century following fire disturbance.     

Remote Sensing Analysis of Vegetation Recovery following Short-Interval Fires in Southern California Shrublands

Increased fire frequency has been shown to promote alien plant invasions in the western United States, resulting in persistent vegetation type change. Short interval fires are widely considered to be detrimental to reestablishment of shrub species in southern California chaparral, facilitating the invasion of exotic annuals and producing “type conversion”. However, supporting evidence for type conversion has largely been at local, site scales and over short post-fire time scales. Type conversion has not been shown to be persistent or widespread in chaparral, and past range improvement studies present evidence that chaparral type conversion may be difficult and a relatively rare phenomenon across the landscape. With the aid of remote sensing data covering coastal southern California and a historical wildfire dataset, the effects of short interval fires (<8 years) on chaparral recovery were evaluated by comparing areas that burned twice to adjacent areas burned only once. Twelve pairs of once- and twice-burned areas were compared using normalized burn ratio (NBR) distributions. Correlations between measures of recovery and explanatory factors (fire history, climate and elevation) were analyzed by linear regression. Reduced vegetation cover was found in some lower elevation areas that were burned twice in short interval fires, where non-sprouting species are more common. However, extensive type conversion of chaparral to grassland was not evident in this study. Most variables, with the exception of elevation, were moderately or poorly correlated with differences in vegetation recovery.     

Human Impacts on the Fire Regime of Interior Alaska: Interactions among Fuels, Ignition Sources, and Fire Suppression

Wildfire is the major natural agent of disturbance in interior Alaska. We examined the magnitude of human impact on fire by comparing fire regime between individual 1-km² grid cells designated for fire suppression with lands where fires are allowed to burn naturally. Two-thirds of interior Alaska has an essentially natural fire regime, with few human ignitions, negligible suppression activity, and many large lightning-caused fires. In the 17% of land that is designated for fire suppression due to its proximity to communities and roads, there was a 50% reduction in the proportion of area burned from 1992–2001, relative to areas without suppression. The remaining 16% of land serves as a buffer, receives some suppression, and has an intermediate fire regime. Even though there were 50 times more fires and the fire season began two months earlier in lands designated for suppression, most of these fires were lit by people and remained small because fires tended to occur at times and places less favorable for fire spread and were more accessible to fire fighters compared to lands not designated for suppression. Even in the absence of fire suppression, human-caused fires were less likely to exceed 400 ha compared to lightning-caused fires. Fire suppression reduced area burned in all fuel types but was somewhat more effective in less flammable (non-forest) vegetation. Alaska’s fire policy of focusing suppression efforts on a small proportion of the fire-prone region maximizes the ecological and social benefits associated with fire-dependent ecosystem services, while minimizing the social and ecological costs of suppression. Application of this policy to other areas would require well-informed managers and stakeholders to make difficult decisions about the relative costs and benefits of fire across ecologically and culturally variable landscapes.     

Small mammal abundance in Mediterranean post-fire habitats: a role for predators?

We studied patterns of small mammal abundance and species richness in post-fire habitats by sampling 33 plots (225 m² each) representing different stages of vegetation recovery after fire. Small mammal abundance was estimated by live trapping during early spring 1999 and vegetation structure was sampled by visual estimation at the same plots. Recently–burnt areas were characterised by shrubby and herbaceous vegetation with low structural variability, and unburnt areas were characterised by well developed forest cover with high structural complexity. Small mammal abundance and species richness decreased with time elapsed since the last fire (from 5 to at least 50 years), and these differences were associated to the decreasing cover of short shrubs as the post-fire succession of plant communities advanced. However, relationships between vegetation structure and small mammals differed among areas burned in different times, with weak or negative relationship in recently burnt areas and positive and stronger relationship in unburnt areas. Furthermore, the abundance of small mammals was larger than expected from vegetation structure in plots burned recently whereas the contrary pattern was found in unburned areas. We hypothesised that the pattern observed could be related to the responses of small mammal predators to changes in vegetation and landscape structure promoted by fire. Fire-related fragmentation could have promoted the isolation of forest predators (owls and carnivores) in unburned forest patches, a fact that could have produced a higher predation pressure for small mammals. Conversely, small mammal populations would have been enhanced in early post-fire stages by lower predator numbers combined with better predator protection in areas covered by resprouting woody vegetation.     

Life histories of Mediterranean pines

The life history of Spanish pines and their relation to fire as the main disturbance factor in their ecosystems was analysed. The primary ecological attributes studied were the canopy seed bank (onset of cone production, percentage and persistence of serotinous cones), seed and cone morphology, sprouting and bark thickness. Four ecological groups were separated using multivariate cluster analysis and their life-history characteristics are discussed. Serotiny and early flowering in Pinus halepensis and P. pinaster reflect their evader strategy in relation to fire as this character is advantageous to survive frequent crown fires and to attain successful post-fire recruitment. Late flowering and absence of serotinous cones in P. nigra, P. sylvestris and P. uncinata indicate that their natural forest did not evolve under frequent crown fires. P. canariensis and P. pinea appeared in two single groups because of their sprouting capability and their seed size respectively. Intraspecific variation in P. pinaster was also analysed using the same criteria and high variability was found in its life history traits. A group of P. pinaster populations showed high levels of serotiny and thin bark as a possible adaptation to frequent stand-replacing crown fires. In contrast, a group of non- or weakly-serotinous populations seems to have evolved under a low-intensity fire regime where the best fitness corresponds to thick-barked individuals capable of surviving ground fires. Intermediate strategies were also evident in this species and were discussed in relation to the effect of different fire regimes caused by the understorey vegetation.