Patterns of short-term vegetation recovery after a fire in protected Scots pine forests of hemiboreal Latvia
Wildfires as natural disturbances have had important impacts on terrestrial ecosystems, including forests. We studied patterns of short-term vegetation recovery after surface fire in protected hemiboreal Pinus sylvestris L.-dominated forest. Our study was carried out near Stikli village in Western L...
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Finnish Society of Forest Science
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Silva Fennica |
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| Online Access: | https://www.silvafennica.fi/article/24046 |
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| author | Līga Liepa Zigmārs Rendenieks Edgars Dubrovskis Lāsma Freimane Inga Straupe Āris Jansons |
| author_facet | Līga Liepa Zigmārs Rendenieks Edgars Dubrovskis Lāsma Freimane Inga Straupe Āris Jansons |
| author_sort | Līga Liepa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Wildfires as natural disturbances have had important impacts on terrestrial ecosystems, including forests. We studied patterns of short-term vegetation recovery after surface fire in protected hemiboreal Pinus sylvestris L.-dominated forest. Our study was carried out near Stikli village in Western Latvia. Seven forest stands – middle-age and over-mature were sampled on nutrient-poor and mesic soils. Forest fire occurred in the summer of 2018 and covered 1440 ha of forested area. In each stand we established 16 sample plots (1 m × 1 m) in a radial pattern from the center. Every summer from 2019 till 2022 we surveyed these sample plots – recorded projective cover (%) and identified Ellenberg indicator values and species traits – plant strategy groups (C-S-R after Grime), Raunkiær life history forms and habitat types. Additionally, the occurrence of specialized fire-adapted plants was recorded. In total we identified 15 species in the ground layer, 47 species in the herbaceous layer, and 9 regenerating tree species. The colonization at the ground layer was the most rapid (projective cover increased overall by 67% in middle-aged stands and by 82% in over-mature stands). Species diversity was the highest at the herb layer during the third (middle-aged stands) and fourth (over-mature stands) after fire disturbance but showed overall declining trends. Betula spp. and Populus tremula L.-dominated regenerating tree species. The dominance of fire-adapted species declined rapidly after the fire except for moss Polytrichum spp. Overall, hemiboreal over-mature stands demonstrated higher vegetation cover and more rapid rate of initial colonization compared to middle-aged stands. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-dd79554607e348ec8dcee7c87dfe3039 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2242-4075 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Finnish Society of Forest Science |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Silva Fennica |
| spelling | doaj-art-dd79554607e348ec8dcee7c87dfe30392025-08-20T02:11:00ZengFinnish Society of Forest ScienceSilva Fennica2242-40752025-03-0159110.14214/sf.24046Patterns of short-term vegetation recovery after a fire in protected Scots pine forests of hemiboreal LatviaLīga Liepa0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8270-6722Zigmārs Rendenieks1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3511-1486Edgars Dubrovskis2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0810-5651Lāsma Freimane3Inga Straupe4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2098-7194Āris Jansons5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7981-4346Latvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”, Rīgas street 111, LV-2169, Salaspils, Latvia; Latvian University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences, Akadēmijas street 11, LV-3001, Jelgava, LatviaLatvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”, Rīgas street 111, LV-2169, Salaspils, LatviaLatvian University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences, Akadēmijas street 11, LV-3001, Jelgava, LatviaLatvian University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences, Akadēmijas street 11, LV-3001, Jelgava, LatviaLatvian University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences, Akadēmijas street 11, LV-3001, Jelgava, LatviaLatvian State Forest Research Institute “Silava”, Rīgas street 111, LV-2169, Salaspils, LatviaWildfires as natural disturbances have had important impacts on terrestrial ecosystems, including forests. We studied patterns of short-term vegetation recovery after surface fire in protected hemiboreal Pinus sylvestris L.-dominated forest. Our study was carried out near Stikli village in Western Latvia. Seven forest stands – middle-age and over-mature were sampled on nutrient-poor and mesic soils. Forest fire occurred in the summer of 2018 and covered 1440 ha of forested area. In each stand we established 16 sample plots (1 m × 1 m) in a radial pattern from the center. Every summer from 2019 till 2022 we surveyed these sample plots – recorded projective cover (%) and identified Ellenberg indicator values and species traits – plant strategy groups (C-S-R after Grime), Raunkiær life history forms and habitat types. Additionally, the occurrence of specialized fire-adapted plants was recorded. In total we identified 15 species in the ground layer, 47 species in the herbaceous layer, and 9 regenerating tree species. The colonization at the ground layer was the most rapid (projective cover increased overall by 67% in middle-aged stands and by 82% in over-mature stands). Species diversity was the highest at the herb layer during the third (middle-aged stands) and fourth (over-mature stands) after fire disturbance but showed overall declining trends. Betula spp. and Populus tremula L.-dominated regenerating tree species. The dominance of fire-adapted species declined rapidly after the fire except for moss Polytrichum spp. Overall, hemiboreal over-mature stands demonstrated higher vegetation cover and more rapid rate of initial colonization compared to middle-aged stands.https://www.silvafennica.fi/article/24046successionfire disturbanceplant functional traitspost-fire regenerationprotected forests |
| spellingShingle | Līga Liepa Zigmārs Rendenieks Edgars Dubrovskis Lāsma Freimane Inga Straupe Āris Jansons Patterns of short-term vegetation recovery after a fire in protected Scots pine forests of hemiboreal Latvia Silva Fennica succession fire disturbance plant functional traits post-fire regeneration protected forests |
| title | Patterns of short-term vegetation recovery after a fire in protected Scots pine forests of hemiboreal Latvia |
| title_full | Patterns of short-term vegetation recovery after a fire in protected Scots pine forests of hemiboreal Latvia |
| title_fullStr | Patterns of short-term vegetation recovery after a fire in protected Scots pine forests of hemiboreal Latvia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Patterns of short-term vegetation recovery after a fire in protected Scots pine forests of hemiboreal Latvia |
| title_short | Patterns of short-term vegetation recovery after a fire in protected Scots pine forests of hemiboreal Latvia |
| title_sort | patterns of short term vegetation recovery after a fire in protected scots pine forests of hemiboreal latvia |
| topic | succession fire disturbance plant functional traits post-fire regeneration protected forests |
| url | https://www.silvafennica.fi/article/24046 |
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