Forest biodiversity assessment following wildfire

Abstract

Wildfires are a major disturbance in forest ecosystems. In areas characterized by agreat wildfire incidence, they are a relevant critical element. Wildfire role in determiningbiodiversity changes has been frequently underlined; a better understanding of the linksbetween fire, biological diversity and forest management is however crucial.The present work studies wildfire influence on stand structure and species diversityin Mediterranean forests for the assessment of biodiversity and its evolution in timefollowing a fire event.The study area is located in Savona province. Two wildfires (occurred respectivelyduring august 1998 and august 2003) were selected as study cases. Six plots (each with asurface of 2500 m2), established within burned and non-burned forest stands, are undercomparison. The present paper reports the first results obtained in two of the abovementioned plots, burned in 1998 and 2003 respectively. All live trees, coarse woodydebris and standing dead trees were topographically mapped. Tree and shrub layers werealready surveyed, while the herbaceous layer will by analyzed during the next growingseason. Different species and structural diversity indices were used. In particular pointpattern analysis was realized to study the spatial distribution within plots, applyingRipley’s function. Those indices allowed to point out some species and structuraldiversity changes induce by fire, at least after a few years since the event occurrence. Theobtained results will help in the definition of guidelines for a sustainable forestmanagement aiming at preserving biodiversity.