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Spatial patterns of shrub cover after different fire disturbances in the Pyrenees

Caractéristiques spatiales de la couverture des buissons après différentes perturbations par le feu dans les Pyrénées

Annals of Forest Science volume 66, page 612 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

  • • Woody encroachment into grasslands is a worldwide phenomenon. In the Pyrenees, fire has been used as a management tool to transform part of the encroached land to grassland.

  • • This study aims to compare the spatial patterns of shrub cover 4 y after 4 different fire disturbances (prescribed burning, repeated prescribed burning, wildfire in 20 year-old shrubs and wildfire in 5 year-old shrubs); and also to compare shrub cover after different fire disturbances, accounting for spatial autocorrelation. The study focuses on the shrub Cytisus balansae. Two-dimensional transects (20 × 0.5 m) were established to monitor shrub cover for 4 y after each disturbance type. Autoregressive models and Markov models were used with a Monte Carlo procedure to account for the presence of spatial autocorrelation.

  • • Shrub cover was greater after prescribed burning than after repeated prescribed burning, and it increased with shrub age before disturbance. Differences in spatial patterns were detected in shrub patch size, with repeated prescribed fires and wildfires reducing shrub patch size by half in comparison with prescribed burning.

  • • From the management point of view, the effects of repeated prescribed burning were similar to those of a wildfire on reducing shrub cover and shrub patch size.

Résumé

  • • Les empiètements boisés sur les prairies sont un phénomène mondial. Dans les Pyrénées, le feu a été utilisé comme un outil de gestion pour transformer une partie des empiètements boisés en prairies.

  • • Cette étude vise à comparer les caractéristiques spatiales des couverts de buissons 4 ans après 4 différentes perturbations (feu prescrit, feu prescrit répété, feu spontané dans des buissons âgés de 20 ans et feu spontané dans buissons âgés de 5 ans), et aussi de comparer la couverture des buissons après les différents perturbations occasionnées par les incendies, prenant en compte l’autocorrélation spatiale. L’étude se concentre sur les buissons de Cytisus balansae. Deux transects dimensionnels (20 × 0,5 m) ont été mis en place pour suivre la couverture des buissons 4 ans après chaque type de perturbation. Des modèles autorégressifs et des modèles de Markov ont été utilisés avec une procédure de Monte Carlo pour tenir compte de la présence d’une autocorrélation spatiale.

  • • Le couvert des buissons est plus important après le feu prescrit qu’après le feu prescrit répété et il augmente avec l’âge des buissons avant la perturbation. Les différences dans les modèles spatiaux ont été détectées dans la taille des bouquets de buissons, avec les feux prescrits répétés et les feux spontanés réduisant la taille des bouquets de buissons de moitié en comparaison avec le brûlage prescrit.

  • • Du point de vue de la gestion, les effets des feux prescrits répétés ont été similaires à ceux des feux spontanés sur la réduction de la couverture des buissons et de la taille des bouquets de buissons.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre Tecnològic Forestal de Catalunya (CTFC), Ctra. de St. Llorenys de Morunys, Km 2 (Ctra. Vella), 25280, Solsona, Spain

    Francesc Montané, Pere Casals & Marc Taull

  2. Fundación Centro de Estudios Ambientales del Mediterráneo (CEAM), Parque Tecnológico, C/ Charles R. Darwin, 14, 46980, Paterna, Spain

    Pere Casals

  3. Service élevage environnement, Bureau Commun Agricole (SIME-SUAMME), Rue de la Gare, 66500, Prades, France

    Bernard Lambert

  4. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, T6G2E9, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Mark R. T. Dale

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  1. Francesc Montané
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  2. Pere Casals
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  3. Marc Taull
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  4. Bernard Lambert
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  5. Mark R. T. Dale
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Correspondence to Francesc Montané.

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Montané, F., Casals, P., Taull, M. et al. Spatial patterns of shrub cover after different fire disturbances in the Pyrenees. Ann. For. Sci. 66, 612 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1051/forest/2009050

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/forest/2009050

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Annals of Forest Science

ISSN: 1297-966X