Dynamics of Postfire Regeneration of Pinus brutia Ten. in an Artificial Forest Ecosystem of Northern Greece

This paper deals with the dynamics of postfire regeneration of Pinus brutia Ten. in an artificial forest ecosystem of North Greece, after a fire in 1982. The following issues are studied: the natural development of P. brutia stands 20 years after the fire, the current stand structure, and the influe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plant ecology 2004-01, Vol.171 (1/2), p.165-174
Main Authors: Tsitsoni, T., Ganatsas, P., Zagas, T., Tsakaldimi, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coniferous forests
Data processing
Ecosystem resilience
Evolution
Fires
Forest & brush fires
Forest ecology
Forest ecosystems
Forest fires
Forest management
Forest regeneration
Forest restoration
Forest stands
Forests
Growth patterns
Pinus brutia
Plant ecology
Plant growth
Population dynamics
Reforestation
Saplings
Stand management
Stand structure
Terrestrial ecosystems
Thinning
Trees
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper deals with the dynamics of postfire regeneration of Pinus brutia Ten. in an artificial forest ecosystem of North Greece, after a fire in 1982. The following issues are studied: the natural development of P. brutia stands 20 years after the fire, the current stand structure, and the influence of thinning treatment on stand population dynamics and tree growth patterns. The present work summarises and updates data taken during the years 1987-2002. The results show that the postfire regeneration was successful and contributed to the re-establishment of the pre-fire forest not only at the sites of good quality but at the medium quality sites as well. Regarding the postfire development, it is observed that an abundant P. brutia re-establishment is followed by a natural and gradual reduction of tree population caused by the influence of the physical environment during the early postfire years and caused by self-thinning later. The stands have entered the stem exclusion stage and they are growing at a narrow spacing in all cases. The evolution pattern and the stand structure were affected by thinning, which resulted in the improvement of tree quality and growth and accelerated their early fruition, thus contributing to higher ecosystem resilience.
ISSN:1385-0237
1573-5052
DOI:10.1023/B:VEGE.0000029385.60590.fc