EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/20061 Achievements in Wildland Fire Ecology Acquis en Ecologie des Incendies de Forêt

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/20062 Fire, ecosystems functioning and bio-diversity unit Tools for assessing fire impacts Post-fire management Restoration Prescribed burning

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/20063 Database of the Network of sites Questionnaire form for the EuFireLab Experimental Sites Network More than 30 documented sites in the database + Assessing fire impacts

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/20064 Foliar Moisture content and Predawn Water Potential for Cistus creticus in Attica Assessing fire impacts

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/20065 SOME VARIABLES Resprouting capacity Seed bank Seed persistence to fire Post-dire seedling emergence and survival SOME VARIABLES Flammable compunds, resins, waxes Fuel: fine/coarse, live/dead SOME VARIABLES Reproduction system Fruit/seed, size, weight Dispersion mode, max. minimum distance SOME VARIABLES Life form Life span Size Root system and clonal capacity Leaves 885 species (79 families)  42 traits 6973 data Little knowledge on post-fire regeneration capacity for many plant species EUFireLab: Database on functional traits of EU-Mediterranean plant species Assessing fire impacts germination resprout POST-FIRE REGENERATION COMBUSTIBILITY REPRODUCTION VEGETATIVE TRAITS

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/20066 Modelling vegetation dynamics Objective: –Create a framework for modelling vegetation dynamics in fire prone ecosystem Results: the LASS framework – –It allows working with different simulation models, different resolution, different spatial and temporal scales,... Applications: –Modelling vegetation dynamics in fire-prone ecosystems, considering the species traits of the Mediterranean plants. –Testing the effect of different fire regimes. Large spatial and temporal scales –Input values from the Plant Trait Database Assessing fire impacts

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/20067 L5 L4 L3 L2 L1 F0F80F40F20F10F5 Cistus Initial

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/20068 Post-fire impacts on vegetation I.The vegetation of undisturbed mediterranean ecosystems is resilient to fire II.Risks related to soil erosion and sensitivity to repeated fire events depend on the regeneration mode of the dominant species (obligate resprouters vs. obligate seeders) III.In the short term, fire affects the germination rate, the growth rate and the phenology of many plant taxa IV.Most of the studied endemic or rare plant taxa inhabiting mediterranean ecosystems are resilient to fire unless there is a change in the fire regime or in any secondary events of disturbance V.Mediterranean plant communities regenerating after fire are resilient towards invasions of alien taxa Assessing fire impacts

9 Indiv Indiv Indiv … fire Capture occasionSurvival  time 1 = Detected 0 = undetected Fauna mortality Assesing fire impacts

10 Bird censuses at different date after fire (+ control censuses) Correspondence Analysis Controls time of return to the pre-fire state (resilience) Assessing fire impacts

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/ Log removal: Effect on soil erosion Post-fire management 9 years after fire 30% zones with intensive burned log removal Short term: rill erosion in concentrated extraction areas (Up to 51 Mg ha -1 year-1 of soil loss for the worst case) Medium term: stabilisation or decrease of erosive process at gullies

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/ Post-fire management practices: log dams Aims: prevention of soil erosion, reduction of runoff rate Construction: on steep slopes – before autumn rains– using local logs Problems: logging effects – vegetation pattern – flammability

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/ Post-fire management practices: log dams

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/ Branch barriers (contour strips) and control (untreated) areas Post-fire management

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/ Total sediment yield produced in control and treated areas during the monitoring period: July 2005-April 2006 Silt-fence used to monitor sediment yield Branches barriers (contour strips) in a burned and post-fire logged area Post-fire management

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/ Emergency seeding Plant regeneration May 2003, 7 months after fire and after treatment aplication S+M: Seeding + Mulch S: Seeding M: Mulch without seeding Post-fire management

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/ Emergency seeding S+M: Seeding + Mulch S: Seeding M: Mulch without seeding C: Control Soil protection Infilatration capacity Erosion Soil surface compaction Post-fire management

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/ Fire-prone shrublands Restoration

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/ Clearing & Planting Control plot clearing planting Restoration Clearing + planting

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/ Restoration

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/ Restoration

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/ Prescribed burning: a tool for managing biodiversity and ecosystems functioning Context: Southern Europe : PB mainly developed for fuel management Increasing use for wildlife habitat improvement Northern Europe: Traditional silvicultural purposes (appr ha/year in Finland) shifting to focus more on biodiversity management Restoration PB for ecosystem managements (conservation areas) (e.g. 100 ha/year in Finland) Woodland grouse habitat improvement in Scotland => Impacts of PB on ecosystem components How to conciliate protection and conservation objectives ? Forest Fuels Management in Europe

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/ Wildlife habitat improvement Bonelli eagle Luberon Regional Park France Prescribed burning

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/ Prescribed burning Boreal restoration treatment with fire

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/ Variations in the time to recovery to pre-burn levels of ecosystem components in maritime pine stands, NW Portugal ParameterTime to recovery, years Litter loading Forest floor nutrients Forest floor fauna Forest floor fungus Forest floor microbial populations Vegetation cover Vegetation biomass Bird diversity

EUFIRELAB, Symposium conclusif, Conclusive symposium, Avignon, 20/10/ Recommendations No single fire regime is optimal for all species and communities present and some fire regimes can also threaten biodiversity => Variation of PB regime in space and time In the boreal ecosystems, fire and amount of dead wood are important factors in maintaining biodiversity - substrates for threatened species (saproxylics) In some cases both objectives (ecosystem biodiversity and hazard-reduction) cannot be achieved simultaneously Prescribed burning