Investigation of factors that affect post-fire recovery of photosynthetic activity at global scale
The time taken for ecosystems to recover after wildfire affects the rate of carbon sequestration, and this in turn impacts land–atmosphere exchanges and hydrological processes. Factors affecting post-fire recovery time have been investigated at site or regional scale, but there is comparatively litt...
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Elsevier
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25001359 |
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| author | Yicheng Shen I. Colin Prentice Sandy P. Harrison |
| author_facet | Yicheng Shen I. Colin Prentice Sandy P. Harrison |
| author_sort | Yicheng Shen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The time taken for ecosystems to recover after wildfire affects the rate of carbon sequestration, and this in turn impacts land–atmosphere exchanges and hydrological processes. Factors affecting post-fire recovery time have been investigated at site or regional scale, but there is comparatively little information about this at a global scale. In this study, we use solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) to estimate the recovery of photosynthetic activity after fire for more than 10,000 fires representing the range of ecosystems across the globe. We then examined the factors that influence post-fire recovery time, initially using the relaxed lasso technique to identify the most important factors and then using a linear regression model incorporating these factors. We show that vegetation characteristics, the characteristics of the fire, and post-fire climate all influence recovery time. Gross primary production (GPP) is the most important factor, with faster recovery in ecosystems with higher GPP. Fire properties which indicate substantial vegetation damage, such as fire intensity and duration, result in longer recovery times. Post-fire climate also affects recovery time: anomalous temperature and temperature seasonality, and higher than normal dry days increase recovery time while higher-than-average precipitation decreases recovery time. There is an additional impact of vegetation type (biome), which may reflect differences in plant adaptations to fire between biomes. We show that there is a clear relationship between the proportion of plants that resprout after fire in a biome and recovery time, with ecosystems characterised by higher abundance recovering faster. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-382ba341225a4dc3aeec7cbdcb3b5206 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj-art-382ba341225a4dc3aeec7cbdcb3b52062025-02-12T05:30:46ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2025-02-01171113206Investigation of factors that affect post-fire recovery of photosynthetic activity at global scaleYicheng Shen0I. Colin Prentice1Sandy P. Harrison2Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AH United Kingdom; Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London SW7 2BW United Kingdom; Corresponding author.Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London SW7 2BW United Kingdom; Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot SL5 7PY United KingdomGeography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AH United Kingdom; Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London SW7 2BW United KingdomThe time taken for ecosystems to recover after wildfire affects the rate of carbon sequestration, and this in turn impacts land–atmosphere exchanges and hydrological processes. Factors affecting post-fire recovery time have been investigated at site or regional scale, but there is comparatively little information about this at a global scale. In this study, we use solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) to estimate the recovery of photosynthetic activity after fire for more than 10,000 fires representing the range of ecosystems across the globe. We then examined the factors that influence post-fire recovery time, initially using the relaxed lasso technique to identify the most important factors and then using a linear regression model incorporating these factors. We show that vegetation characteristics, the characteristics of the fire, and post-fire climate all influence recovery time. Gross primary production (GPP) is the most important factor, with faster recovery in ecosystems with higher GPP. Fire properties which indicate substantial vegetation damage, such as fire intensity and duration, result in longer recovery times. Post-fire climate also affects recovery time: anomalous temperature and temperature seasonality, and higher than normal dry days increase recovery time while higher-than-average precipitation decreases recovery time. There is an additional impact of vegetation type (biome), which may reflect differences in plant adaptations to fire between biomes. We show that there is a clear relationship between the proportion of plants that resprout after fire in a biome and recovery time, with ecosystems characterised by higher abundance recovering faster.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25001359Post-fire recoveryPhotosynthetic activitySIFVegetation regenerationFire adaptations |
| spellingShingle | Yicheng Shen I. Colin Prentice Sandy P. Harrison Investigation of factors that affect post-fire recovery of photosynthetic activity at global scale Ecological Indicators Post-fire recovery Photosynthetic activity SIF Vegetation regeneration Fire adaptations |
| title | Investigation of factors that affect post-fire recovery of photosynthetic activity at global scale |
| title_full | Investigation of factors that affect post-fire recovery of photosynthetic activity at global scale |
| title_fullStr | Investigation of factors that affect post-fire recovery of photosynthetic activity at global scale |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigation of factors that affect post-fire recovery of photosynthetic activity at global scale |
| title_short | Investigation of factors that affect post-fire recovery of photosynthetic activity at global scale |
| title_sort | investigation of factors that affect post fire recovery of photosynthetic activity at global scale |
| topic | Post-fire recovery Photosynthetic activity SIF Vegetation regeneration Fire adaptations |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X25001359 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yichengshen investigationoffactorsthataffectpostfirerecoveryofphotosyntheticactivityatglobalscale AT icolinprentice investigationoffactorsthataffectpostfirerecoveryofphotosyntheticactivityatglobalscale AT sandypharrison investigationoffactorsthataffectpostfirerecoveryofphotosyntheticactivityatglobalscale |