Response of plant functional types to changes in the fire regime in Mediterranean ecosystems: A simulation approach

. In the Mediterranean basin, the climate is predicted to be warmer and effectively drier, leading to changes in fuel conditions and fire regime. Land abandonment in the Mediterranean basin is also changing the fire regime through the increase in fuel loads. In the present study, two simulation models of vegetation dynamics were tested in order to predict changes in plant functional types due to changes in fire recurrence in eastern Spain. The two modelling approaches are the FATE-model (based on vital attributes) and the gap model BROLLA (based on the gap-phase theory). The models were arranged to simulate four functional types, based mainly on their regenerative strategies after disturbance: Quercus (resprouter), Pinus (non-resprouter with serotinous cones), Erica (resprouter), and Cistus (non-resprouter with germination stimulated by fire). The simulation results suggested a decrease in Quercus abundance, an increase in Cistus and Erica, and a maximum of Pinus at intermediate recurrence scenarios. Despite their different approaches, both models predicted a similar response to increased fire recurrence, and the results were consistent with field observations.

[1]  Andrew D. Moore,et al.  An individualistic model of vegetation stand dynamics. , 1990 .

[2]  Climate and its Influential Factors, Especially the Anthropogenic Enhancement of the Greenhouse Effect and its Possible Impacts — Results of the Second Assessment Report of the IPCC , 1999 .

[3]  Andreas Y. Troumbis,et al.  Comparison of reproductive biological attributes of two Cistus species , 1986 .

[4]  B. W. Wilgen,et al.  Fire and Plants , 1995, Population and Community Biology Series.

[5]  H. Gleason.  The individualistic concept of the plant association , 1926 .

[6]  E. Box.  Macroclimate and Plant Forms , 1981, Tasks for Vegetation Science.

[7]  Herman H. Shugart,et al.  A computer model of succession and fire response of the high‐altitude Eucalyptus forest of the Brindabella Range, Australian Capital Territory , 1981 .

[8]  J. R. Wallis,et al.  Some ecological consequences of a computer model of forest growth , 1972 .

[9]  J. Retana,et al.  Regeneration by sprouting of holm-oak ( Quercus ilex ) stands exploited by selection thinning , 1992 .

[10]  P. Kramer,et al.  Responses of Plants to Environmental Stresses , 1973 .

[11]  J. Houghton,et al.  Climate change 1992 : the supplementary report to the IPCC scientific assessment , 1992 .

[12]  Z. Kiraly,et al.  Role of Glutathione and Glutathione‐Related Enzymes in Response of Plants to Environmental Stress , 1998 .

[13]  Ian R. Noble,et al.  A functional classification for predicting the dynamics of landscapes , 1996 .

[14]  F. Woodward.  Climate and plant distribution , 1987 .

[15]  Thomas M. Smith,et al.  Spatial applications of gap models , 1991 .

[16]  William K. Lauenroth,et al.  A gap dynamics simulation model of succession in a semiarid grassland , 1990 .

[17]  Wolfgang Cramer,et al.  Plant functional types and climatic change: Introduction , 1996 .

[18]  Thomas M. Smith,et al.  A review of forest patch models and their application to global change research , 1996 .

[19]  Josep Piñol,et al.  Climate Warming, Wildfire Hazard, and Wildfire Occurrence in Coastal Eastern Spain , 1998 .

[20]  E. Salinero.  Remote sensing of large wildfires in the European Mediterranean Basin , 1999 .

[21]  H. Shugart.  A Theory of Forest Dynamics , 1984 .

[22]  Marc P. Armstrong,et al.  Dispersal probability and forest diversity in a fragmented landscape , 1996 .

[23]  Elgene O. Box,et al.  Tasks for Vegetation Science I: Macroclimate and Plant Forms: An Introduction to Predictive Modeling in Phytogeography , 2011 .

[24]  Jacques Roy,et al.  Germination and Population Dynamics of Cistus Species in Relation to Fire , 1992 .

[25]  J. Pausas.  MODELLING FIRE-PRONE VEGETATION DYNAMICS , 1998 .

[26]  C. Tsiouvaras.  Long-term effects of clipping on production and vigor of kermes oak (Quercus coccifera) , 1988 .

[27]  Edward J. Rykiel,et al.  Testing ecological models: the meaning of validation , 1996 .

[28]  S. Lavorel,et al.  Plant life-history attributes: their relationship to disturbance response in herbaceous vegetation. , 1995 .

[29]  Harald Bugmann,et al.  Functional types of trees in temperate and boreal forests: classification and testing , 1996 .

[30]  J. Pausas,et al.  2 The role of fire in European Mediterranean Ecosystems , 1999 .

[31]  D. DeAngelis,et al.  New Computer Models Unify Ecological TheoryComputer simulations show that many ecological patterns can be explained by interactions among individual organisms , 1988 .

[32]  Juli G. Pausas,et al.  Resprouting of Quercus suber in NE Spain after fire. , 1997 .

[33]  I. Noble,et al.  The Use of Vital Attributes to Predict Successional Changes in Plant Communities Subject to Recurrent Disturbances , 1980 .

[34]  F. Romane,et al.  Quercus ilex L. ecosystems: function, dynamics and management , 1992, Advances in vegetation science.

[35]  S. Lavorel,et al.  Plant functional classifications: from general groups to specific groups based on response to disturbance. , 1997, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[36]  Andrew D. Moore.  On the maximum growth equation used in forest gap simulation models , 1989 .

[37]  Juli G. Pausas,et al.  A FOREST SIMULATION MODEL FOR PREDICTING EUCALYPT DYNAMICS AND HABITAT QUALITY FOR ARBOREAL MARSUPIALS , 1997 .

[38]  A. Watt,et al.  Pattern and process in the plant community , 1947 .

[39]  G. Malanson.  Effects of dispersal and mortality on diversity in a forest stand model , 1996 .