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...     

中度强度森林火灾对马尾松次生林土壤有机碳密度的影响

森林火灾作为森林非连续的干扰因子, 是生物地球化学循环的驱动因子, 显著改变生态系统的结构和功能及养分循环与能量传递, 引起森林碳库与碳分配格局的变化, 进而影响森林演替进程及固碳能力。该研究以广东省马尾松(Pinus massoniana)次生林为研究对象, 采用相邻样地比较法和空间代替时间法, 以野外调查采样与室内试验分析为主要手段, 定量研究突发性森林火灾对土壤有机碳密度的影响, 探讨森林火灾对土壤有机碳固持的影响机制。结果表明: 与对照相比, 森林火灾后的幼龄林、中龄林和成熟林的土壤有机碳密度分别为35.12、40.80和52.34 t·hm^-2, 依次降低了10.93%、8.52%和7.56%。相比对照, 幼龄林、中龄林和成熟林土壤剖面(0-60 cm)的土壤有机碳密度变化范围分别为5.04-7.76、5.26-10.27和6.33-13.58 t·hm^-2, 依次降低了2.51%-16.83%、1.31%-11.85%和1.09%-12.50%; 森林火灾显著降低了幼龄林和中龄林0-30 cm的土壤有机碳密度, 显著降低了成熟林0-20 cm的土壤有机碳密度。马尾松次生林土壤有机碳密度与土壤理化性质具有显著相关关系。通径分析表明, 对照样地和过火样地中, 土壤全氮含量均对土壤有机碳密度的直接作用最大, 土壤细根生物量对土壤有机碳密度的直接作用较小, 但其通过土壤全氮含量对土壤有机碳密度的影响均表现在间接作用上。嵌套方差分析表明, 土壤深度解释了土壤有机碳密度变异的70.60%, 林龄解释了其变异的25.35%, 森林火灾解释了其变异的2.34%。研究发现: 森林火灾减少了马尾松次生林各林龄的土壤有机碳密度。在水平方向上, 随着林龄增长, 土壤有机碳密度的减少幅度降低; 在垂直方向上, 土壤有机碳密度随着土壤土层深度加深而降低, 且随林龄增长减少幅度下降。研究森林火灾对森林生态系统土壤有机碳的影响, 有助于理解森林生态系统土壤碳固持和碳循环过程, 对制定旨在减缓全球变化的科学合理的林火管理策略具有重要意义。     

Effects of fire disturbance on the soil physical and chemical properties and vegetation of Pinus massoniana forest in south subtropical area

A variety of studies on the impact of fire disturbance on ecosystems has shown that the physical and chemical properties of soil after fire disturbance change notably. Meanwhile, little is known about the effects of different fire intensities on the soil properties and vegetation after fire disturbance, especially in the south subtropical area. In this paper, we analyzed the soil physical and chemical properties, vegetation species and species diversity of fire center, fire edge (which was burned a year ago) and non-burned Pinus massoniana plantation in Gaoyao, Guangdong province, China. The results showed that the soil conductivity, water content, total nitrogen, total potassium, and available potassium content of fire center were significantly higher than those of the non-burned land, and pH was higher than that of fire edge, whereas the available nitrogen, total phosphorus and organic matter content were much lower, which were generally existed in 0–10 cm soil layer and 10–30 cm soil layer. Changes of the soil properties of fire edge were similar with those of fire center, but less significant, and seemed to be more complex. Effects of burning on the vegetation of fire disturbance plots were found to be notable, species number and average height of plants of fire disturbance plots were lower than those of the non-burned plots, a difference of species diversity and uniformity were also shown, and finally, the composition of plant community also changed, e.g., pioneer species such as D. dichotoma, etc., dominated, and drought-resistant plants, heat-resistant plants and positive plants increased after burning.     

火干扰强度对亚热带四种森林类型土壤理化性质的影响

火干扰是通过改变土壤理化性质而影响土壤生态系统功能的重要因素之一。探讨火干扰强度对不同森林类型下土壤理化性质的影响,为利用火干扰促进林分更新及经营提供理论指导。2014年在湖南省株洲市和湘潭市4种次生林(枫香次生林、马尾松-木荷混交林、杉木-木荷混交林及檫木-杉木混交林)内设置16块20 m×20 m样地进行试验,研究了火干扰强度(对照、低强度、中强度、高强度火烧)和林分类型对土壤容重(BD)、土壤斥水性(SWR)、有机质(SOM)、pH、全氮(TN)、全磷(TP)和全钾(TK)的影响。通过描述性统计分析、单因素方差分析和Fisher LSD检验研究各土壤性质在同一林分不同火干扰间,以及同一火干扰下不同林分间的显著性差异和变化趋势(P0.05)。研究发现BD、SWR、pH、TK都随火强度的增大呈上升的趋势,而SOM、TP随火强度增大而减少,TN则随火强度增大没有规律性变化。在同一林分内与对照组相比,低强度火烧对BD、SWR、pH和SOM的影响不显著,中强度有一定影响,而高强度火烧影响显著;而TN、TP、TK在火烧前后均无显著性差异。火干扰后,TN和TP在同一火强度下不同林分间均存在显著性差异(P0.05),而BD、pH值和TP在同一林分内不同火强度间均存在显著性差异(P0.05)。BD、SOM、pH、TK在枫香次生林内普遍显著大于其他林分。结果说明火干扰强度和林分类型在影响土壤理化性质方面起着重要作用。高强度火干扰对土壤性质影响最大,枫香次生林中土壤理化性质与其他混交林相比普遍存在显著性差异。BD、pH和TP受火强度影响显著,BD、SOM、pH、TN、TK和TP受林分类型影响显著。     

Interactions between repeated fire, nutrients, and insect herbivores affect the recovery of diversity in the southern Amazon

Surface fires burn extensive areas of tropical forests each year, altering resource availability, biotic interactions, and, ultimately, plant diversity. In transitional forest between the Brazilian cerrado (savanna) and high stature Amazon forest, we took advantage of a long-term fire experiment to establish a factorial study of the interactions between fire, nutrient availability, and herbivory on early plant regeneration. Overall, five annual burns reduced the number and diversity of regenerating stems. Community composition changed substantially after repeated fires, and species common in the cerrado became more abundant. The number of recruits and their diversity were reduced in the burned area, but burned plots closed to herbivores with nitrogen additions had a 14 % increase in recruitment. Diversity of recruits also increased up to 50 % in burned plots when nitrogen was added. Phosphorus additions were related to an increase in species evenness in burned plots open to herbivores. Herbivory reduced seedling survival overall and increased diversity in burned plots when nutrients were added. This last result supports our hypothesis that positive relationships between herbivore presence and diversity would be strongest in treatments that favor herbivory—in this case herbivory was higher in burned plots which were initially lower in diversity. Regenerating seedlings in less diverse plots were likely more apparent to herbivores, enabling increased herbivory and a stronger signal of negative density dependence. In contrast, herbivores generally decreased diversity in more species rich unburned plots. Although this study documents complex interactions between repeated burns, nutrients, and herbivory, it is clear that fire initiates a shift in the factors that are most important in determining the diversity and number of recruits. This change may have long-lasting effects as the forest progresses through succession.     

Factors Regulating Nitrogen Retention During the Early Stages of Recovery from Fire in Coastal Chaparral Ecosystems

Fire is a fundamental reorganizing force in chaparral and other Mediterranean-type ecosystems. Postfire nutrient redistribution and cycling are frequently invoked as drivers of ecosystem recovery. The extent to which N is transported from slopes to streams following fire is a function of the balance between the rate at which soil microbes retain and metabolize N into forms that readily dissolve or leach, and how rapidly recovering plants sequester this mobilized N. To better understand how fire impacts this balance, we sampled soil and plant N dynamics in 17 plots distributed across two burned, chaparral-dominated watersheds in Santa Barbara County, California. We measured a variety of ecosystem properties in both burned and unburned plots on a periodic basis for 2 years, including soil water content, pH, soil and plant carbon and nitrogen, extractable inorganic nitrogen, dissolved organic nitrogen, and microbial biomass. In burned plots, nitrification was significantly enhanced relative to rates measured in unburned plots. Ephemeral herbs established quickly following the first postfire rain events. Aboveground plant biomass assimilated N commensurate with soil net mineralization, implying tight N cycling during the early stages of recovery. Microbial biomass N, on the other hand, remained low throughout the study. These findings highlight the importance of herbaceous species in conserving ecosystem nutrients as shrubs gradually recover.     

大兴安岭火烧迹地恢复初期土壤微生物群落特征

对大兴安岭兴安落叶松2003年重度和中度火烧迹地以及未过火样地的土壤微生物群落进行了考察,旨在揭示火烧迹地恢复初期土壤微生物群落变化特征。研究结果表明火烧迹地土壤养分(全氮、全碳、土壤有机质、有效氮)和土壤水分与未过火对照样地存在显著差异;火烧迹地土壤微生物量碳氮、微生物代谢活性以及碳源利用能力均显著高于对照样地;但火烧迹地与对照样地土壤微生物群落结构指标土壤微生物量碳氮比(MBC/MBN)以及多样性指数没有显著差异。相关分析结果表明:土壤微生物量、代谢活性和碳源利用能力与土壤养分指标(全碳、全氮、速效氮、有机质)和土壤水分含量有显著相关性。主成分分析的结果表明火烧与否是火烧样地与对照样地土壤微生物对碳源利用能力差异的原因。所有样地土壤微生物群落真菌比例较高,可能与该地区土壤酸碱度有关(pH=4.12—4.68)。经过6a的恢复,重度和中度火烧迹地的土壤养分和水分、土壤微生物群落的生长、代谢、以及群落多样性仍存在差异,但均不显著,表明此时火烧程度对土壤微生物群落的影响已很微弱。     

火干扰对苍山云南松林步甲群落的影响

在云南省大理市苍山火烧迹地采用陷阱法初步研究了火干扰对苍山云南松林步甲群落的影响.其中未火烧迹地步甲群落由7属14种组成;火烧迹地步甲群落由6属8种组成,样地同多度没有显著差异.未火烧迹地步甲群落物种组成不同于火烧迹地,但部分火烧迹地与未火烧迹地接近;健步甲Carabus solidior是森林生境良好的指示物种(IndVal=0.9489,P=0.001).研究显示,火干扰已经改变了云南松林步甲群落组成,降低了步甲群落的多样性.     

Influence of wildfire on diversity of culturable soil microfungal communities in the Mount Carmel forest,Israel

The fire-related variations in culturable microfungal communities in the soil of the Mount Carmel forest, Israel, were examined by comparing the communities from burned and adjacent unburned soil plots under pine and oak trees – collected 6, 18, and 26 months after the fire. A total of 82 species representing 44 genera were isolated using the soil dilution plate method. The results showed that the fire had strongly influenced the composition and structure of microfungal communities. The fire remarkably changed physical and chemical properties of the environment, decreasing water holding capacity, organic matter and total nitrogen content in the burned soil. These changes supported abundant development of fast-growing mycoparasitic species (Clonostachys rosea and Trichoderma spp.) and caused significant decrease in species richness. The variations in community composition were much more expressed in the burned soils under oak vegetation as compared with the pine trees. In the oak burned soils, the contribution of the “mesic” component, Penicillium spp., was markedly lower, whereas the contribution of the “xeric”, stress-selected component, melanin-containing species, was higher than in the unburned communities. Such variations can be also considered as a community response to the fire-related decrease in water and nutrient content in the burned soils.     

Resistance to wildfire and early regeneration in natural broadleaved forest and pine plantation

The response of an ecosystem to disturbance reflects its stability, which is determined by two components: resistance and resilience. We addressed both components in a study of early post-fire response of natural broadleaved forest (Quercus robur, Ilex aquifolium) and pine plantation (Pinus pinaster, Pinus sylvestris) to a wildfire that burned over 6000 ha in NW Portugal. Fire resistance was assessed from fire severity, tree mortality and sapling persistence. Understory fire resistance was similar between forests: fire severity at the surface level was moderate to low, and sapling persistence was low. At the canopy level, fire severity was generally low in broadleaved forest but heterogeneous in pine forest, and mean tree mortality was significantly higher in pine forest. Forest resilience was assessed by the comparison of the understory composition, species diversity and seedling abundance in unburned and burned plots in each forest type. Unburned broadleaved communities were dominated by perennial herbs (e.g., Arrhenatherum elatius) and woody species (e.g., Hedera hibernica, Erica arborea), all able to regenerate vegetatively. Unburned pine communities presented a higher abundance of shrubs, and most dominant species relied on post-fire seeding, with some species also being able to regenerate vegetatively (e.g., Ulex minor, Daboecia cantabrica). There were no differences in diversity measures in broadleaved forest, but burned communities in pine forest shared less species and were less rich and diverse than unburned communities. Seedling abundance was similar in burned and unburned plots in both forests. The slower reestablishment of understory pine communities is probably explained by the slower recovery rate of dominant species. These findings are ecologically relevant: the higher resistance and resilience of native broadleaved forest implies a higher stability in the maintenance of forest processes and the delivery of ecosystem services.     

Limited Edge Effects Along a Burned‐Unburned Bornean Forest Boundary Seven Years after Disturbance

Large parts of the everwet tropics have been burned, leaving many unburned–burned forest edges. Here we studied a Bornean forest edge to determine: (1) how unburned and burned forest differ in vegetation structure, diversity, composition and plant functional traits 7 yr after fire, and (2) if these variables showed significant edge effects. Environmental and inventory data from 120 plots (0.01 ha each), covering both sides of a ～1.3 km forest boundary were sampled. Differences in vegetation structure, diversity, composition and plant functional traits were analyzed in relation to disturbance type (Mann–Whitney tests) and edge distance (partial correlation analysis that controlled for confounding effects of elevation, slope and fire intensity). Seven years after fire, burned forest differed significantly from unburned forest in most measured variables while few significant edge effects were detected, i.e., there existed a sharp delimitation between the two forest types. The regeneration of the burned forest depended almost entirely on in situ recruitment with little input of late successional species from the neighboring old growth forest. On the other hand, old growth forest showed few signs of edge degradation. A possible explanation for these results might be related to the absence of a mast fruiting event during these first 7 yr of forest recovery, resulting in low levels of late successional species seed input into the burned forest, combined with the quick development of a closed canopy in the burned forest by early successional species that shielded the unburned forest from adverse edge effects.     

Short-term effects of wildfire on microbial biomass and abundance in black pine plantation soils in Turkey

Measurement of soil microbial biomass and abundance offers a means of assessing the response of all microbial populations to changes in the soil environment after a fire. We examined the effects of wildfire on microbial biomass C and N, and abundance of bacteria and fungi 2 months after a fire in a pine plantation. Soil organic carbon (C_org), total nitrogen (N_tot), and electrical conductivity (EC) increased following the fire. In terms of microbial abundance, the overall results showed that burned forest soils had the most bacteria and fungi. Microbial biomass C and N from soil in the burned forest were not significantly different from their unburned forest counterparts. However, microbial indices indicated that fire affects soil microbial community structure by modifying the environmental conditions. The results also suggested that low-intensity fire promotes microorganism functional activity and improves the chemical characteristics of soils under humid climatic conditions.     

Changes in leaf nutrient traits in a wildfire chronosequence

The effect of wildfire on ecosystem function is gaining interest since climate change is expected to increase fire frequency and intensity in many forest systems. Fire alters the nutritional status of forest ecosystems, affecting ecosystem function and productivity, but further studies evaluating changes in leaf nutrient traits induced by forest wildfires are still needed. We used a 17-year-old Pinus canariensis wildfire chronosequence to elucidate the nature of nutrient limitations in natural and unmanaged pine forest in the Canary Islands. Pine needles were sampled in winter and spring and analysed for N and P concentrations. As expected, we found the lowest leaf N and leaf P in recently burned plots. However, the leaf N:P ratio was higher in burned versus unburned plots, suggesting that the decrease in P availability due to the fire is larger than that of N. For all leaf traits and sampling dates, leaf trait values in burned plots matched those observed in unburned plots 17 years after a fire. The N:P ratio found in P. canariensis needles was one of the lowest values reported in the literature for woody species, and suggests that all pine trees in the chronosequence are unambiguously limited by low N availability. Our results show that these N-limited pine forests retained N more efficiently than P 4 years after a wildfire; however, leaf N recovery is slower than P recovery, suggesting that the mechanisms responsible for pine N limitation operate continuously in these forests.     

Effects of experimental fuel additions on fire intensity and severity: unexpected carbon resilience of a neotropical forest

Global changes and associated droughts, heat waves, logging activities, and forest fragmentation may intensify fires in Amazonia by altering forest microclimate and fuel dynamics. To isolate the effects of fuel loads on fire behavior and fire‐induced changes in forest carbon cycling, we manipulated fine fuel loads in a fire experiment located in southeast Amazonia. We predicted that a 50% increase in fine fuel loads would disproportionally increase fire intensity and severity (i.e., tree mortality and losses in carbon stocks) due to multiplicative effects of fine fuel loads on the rate of fire spread, fuel consumption, and burned area. The experiment followed a fully replicated randomized block design (N = 6) comprised of unburned control plots and burned plots that were treated with and without fine fuel additions. The fuel addition treatment significantly increased burned area (+22%) and consequently canopy openness (+10%), fine fuel combustion (+5%), and mortality of individuals ≥5 cm in diameter at breast height (dbh; +37%). Surprisingly, we observed nonsignificant effects of the fuel addition treatment on fireline intensity, and no significant differences among the three treatments for (i) mortality of large trees (≥30 cm dbh), (ii) aboveground forest carbon stocks, and (iii) soil respiration. It was also surprising that postfire tree growth and wood increment were higher in the burned plots treated with fuels than in the unburned control. These results suggest that (i) fine fuel load accumulation increases the likelihood of larger understory fires and (ii) single, low‐intensity fires weakly influence carbon cycling of this primary neotropical forest, although delayed postfire mortality of large trees may lower carbon stocks over the long term. Overall, our findings indicate that increased fine fuel loads alone are unlikely to create threshold conditions for high‐intensity, catastrophic fires during nondrought years.     

兴安落叶松林火烧迹地土壤有效磷与土壤微生物生物量磷时空演变特征

野火是大兴安岭活跃的生态干扰因子,显著影响火烧迹地土壤有效磷(AP, Available Phosphorus)和土壤微生物生物量磷(MBP, Microbial Biomass Phosphorus),本文旨在了解兴安落叶松林火烧迹地AP、MBP的时空演变特征,并在此基础上探究两者间的偶联机制。采用“以空间换时间”的研究方法,于大兴安岭塔河地区兴安落叶松林火烧迹地选取实验样地,于未过火兴安落叶松林选取对照样地,踏查每个样地的海拔、坡度、坡向、坡位信息,测定火烧迹地土壤AP、MBP含量,分析兴安落叶松林火烧迹地AP与MBP的时空演变特征。火干扰后,火烧迹地土壤AP、MBP含量均随恢复时间表现出先减少后增加的趋势,恢复初期火烧迹地MBP含量显著低于未过火样地,AP含量显著高于未过火样地(P<0.05);不同海拔火烧迹地AP、MBP含量差异显著(P<0.05),不同海拔未过火样地AP、MBP含量均无显著差异(P>0.05)。火烧迹地土壤MBP、AP的随机森林回归模型的模型总解释度约为84%,而未过火样地的模型总解释度约为60%,两个模型均达到了极显著水平(P<0.0...     

不同火烈度对四川泸山林场云南松林土壤有机碳组分的影响

林火通过改变土壤理化性质显著影响土壤固碳能力及土壤有机碳各组分含量。阐明不同火烈度对云南松林土壤有机碳的影响,对于云南松林火后生态系统恢复及土壤碳库管理具有重要意义。以火烧2年后四川泸山林场云南松林0-5、5-10、10-15、15-20cm层土壤为研究对象,根据不同火烈度（未过火、低烈度、中烈度、高烈度）设置3块20m×30m样地,共12块样地,野外采集土壤样品,室内测定土壤全氮、容重等理化性质和土壤有机碳（Soil organic carbon,SOC）、土壤活性有机碳（易氧化有机碳,Readily oxidizable carbon,ROC;颗粒有机碳,Particulate organic carbon,POC;微生物生物量碳,Microbial biomass carbon,MBC;水溶性有机碳,Water-soluble organic carbon,WSOC）,采用方差分析研究不同火烈度下土壤有机碳各组分含量的差异性和变化趋势,并采用相关性分析和冗余分析从土壤理化性质角度探究林火对土壤有机碳的影响机制。研究结果表明：（1）不同火烈度显著影响土壤理化性质,其中土壤全氮、有效磷、阳离子交换量、毛管孔隙度、总孔隙度随火烈度增大而增加,而土壤pH、速效钾、碱解氮、容重随火烈度增大而减少。（2） SOC随火烈度增大而减少,其中5-10cm土层降幅最大为44.79%;4种土壤活性有机碳随火烈度增大而减小,其中0-5cm土层下降幅度最明显,各组分降幅大小依次为ROC （36.31%-61.31%） > POC （30.05%-53.61%） > MBC （20.60%-48.19%） > WSOC （13.47%-29.29%）,不同组分对林火的不同响应显著影响了土壤ROC、POC、WSOC的占比。（3）土壤有机碳及其活性组分与阳离子交换量、毛管孔隙度、总孔隙度、有效磷、碱解氮呈显著正相关（P<0.05）,与容重呈极显著负相关（P<0.01）。火烧后土壤有机碳的变化主要与阳离子交换量、容重、全氮、含水率有关,且阳离子交换量影响最大（解释率为61.7%）。     

The effect of fire on nutrients in a pine forest soil

The effect of a hot summer fire on soil nutrient contents in the upper 2 cm of Aleppo pine forest with a dense woody understory was studied from September 1985 to May 1986. In comparison with the adjacent unburned forest, total nitrogen decreased by 25% but available forms of nitrogen were much higher. In burned and unburned soils there was a similar trend to increase and decrease in NH ₄ ⁺ −N, However, while (NO ₂ ⁻ +NO ₃ ⁻ −N decreased in the unburned soil it rose rapidly in the burned ash soil. Total phosphorus increased by 300% after the fire but decreased again 2 months later. Also water-soluble P increased up to November and then decreased to the levels of the unburned soils. The same was true for electrical conductivity and pH, increasing immediately after the fire and then leveling off again. This increase in nutrient levels in the “ash soil” was reflected in the striking increase in shoot and root biomass and in the content of N, P, Mg, K, Ca, Zn and Fe in wheat and clover plants grown in pots in these soils. These nutrient levels were much higher in the wheat plants, which also produced 12 times more seeds in the “ash soil.” It seems that fire in these pine forests causes a short-term flush of the mineral elements in the upper “ash soil” layer which is reverted gradually via the herbaceous post-fire to the ecosystem.     

The Effect of Fire Reintroduction on Endemic and Rare Plants of a Southeastern Glade Ecosystem

Open habitats dominated by herbaceous plants on thin, rocky soils occur within the forests of eastern North America. Although these habitats vary in origin, structure, geology, and species composition, all contribute greatly to regional biodiversity by harboring endemic and/or rare plants. Little is known about how disturbances affect plant populations in these ecosystems. Fire once was a frequent natural disturbance in the Ketona dolomite glades of Alabama, an ecosystem harboring eight endemic taxa and numerous other species of conservation concern. We designed an experiment to determine how the reintroduction of fire into the glades and surrounding longleaf pine forests affects populations of rare glade plant species. Experimental and control plots were established within the glades. Experimental plots were burned in April 2004, and all plots were surveyed during two subsequent growing seasons (2004 and 2005). Populations of three of 14 species of conservation concern declined significantly after the initial fire but recovered the next year. Among other herbaceous species, only five and two differed in population size in 2004 and 2005, respectively. In 2004, more species were more abundant in control than burned plots, but this difference was not detected in 2005. Multivariate community‐level analyses of species presence–absence suggested that the effects of fire were negligible by the 2005 survey. Populations of young trees that had invaded the glades declined dramatically as a result of treatment fires. These results suggest that the reintroduction of fire will not harm glade species and may help prevent encroachment of the surrounding forest.     

Butterfly,seedling, sapling and tree diversity and composition in a fire‐affected Bornean rainforest

Abstract: Fire‐affected forests are becoming an increasingly important component of tropical landscapes. The impact of wildfires on rainforest communities is, however, poorly understood. In this study the density, species richness and community composition of seedlings, saplings, trees and butterflies were assessed in unburned and burned forest following the 1997/98 El Niño Southern Oscillation burn event in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. More than half a year after the fires, sapling and tree densities in the burned forest were only 2.5% and 38.8%, respectively, of those in adjacent unburned forest. Rarefied species richness and Shannon's H’ were higher in unburned forest than burned forest for all groups but only significantly so for seedlings. There were no significant differences in evenness between unburned and burned forest. Matrix regression and Akaike's information criterion (AIC) revealed that the best explanatory models of similarity included both burning and the distance between sample plots indicating that both deterministic processes (related to burning) and dispersal driven stochastic processes structure post‐disturbance rainforest assemblages. Burning though explained substantially more variation in seedling assemblage structure whereas distance was a more important explanatory variable for trees and butterflies. The results indicate that butterfly assemblages in burned forest were primarily derived from adjacent unburned rainforest, exceptions being species of grass‐feeders such as Orsotriaena medus that are normally found in open, disturbed areas, whereas burned forest seedling assemblages were dominated by typical pioneer genera, such as various Macaranga species that were absent or rare in unburned forest. Tree assemblages in the burned forest were represented by a subset of fire‐resistant species, such as Eusideroxylon zwageri and remnant dominant species from the unburned forest.     

Fire effects and ecological recovery pathways of tropical montane cloud forests along a time chronosequence

Tropical montane cloud forests (TMCFs) harbour high levels of biodiversity and large carbon stocks. Their location at high elevations make them especially sensitive to climate change, because a warming climate is enhancing upslope species migration, but human disturbance (especially fire) may in many cases be pushing the treeline downslope. TMCFs are increasingly being affected by fire, and the long‐term effects of fire are still unknown. Here, we present a 28‐year chronosequence to assess the effects of fire and recovery pathways of burned TMCFs, with a detailed analysis of carbon stocks, forest structure and diversity. We assessed rates of change of carbon (C) stock pools, forest structure and tree‐size distribution pathways and tested several hypotheses regarding metabolic scaling theory (MST), C recovery and biodiversity. We found four different C stock recovery pathways depending on the selected C pool and time since last fire, with a recovery of total C stocks but not of aboveground C stocks. In terms of forest structure, there was an increase in the number of small stems in the burned forests up to 5–9 years after fire because of regeneration patterns, but no differences on larger trees between burned and unburned plots in the long term. In support of MST, after fire, forest structure appears to approximate steady‐state size distribution in less than 30 years. However, our results also provide new evidence that the species recovery of TMCF after fire is idiosyncratic and follows multiple pathways. While fire increased species richness, it also enhanced species dissimilarity with geographical distance. This is the first study to report a long‐term chronosequence of recovery pathways to fire suggesting faster recovery rates than previously reported, but at the expense of biodiversity and aboveground C stocks.