Long Term Post-Fire Vegetation Dynamics in North-East Mediterranean Ecosystems. The Case of Mount Athos Greece
Fire is an ecological and disturbance factor with a significant historical role in shaping the landscape of fire-prone environments. Despite the large amount of literature regarding post-fire vegetation dynamics, the north-east Mediterranean region is rather underrepresented in the literature. Studi...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Fire |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/4/4/92 |
| _version_ | 1797504812211765248 |
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| author | Panteleimon Xofis Peter G. Buckley Ioannis Takos Jonathan Mitchley |
| author_facet | Panteleimon Xofis Peter G. Buckley Ioannis Takos Jonathan Mitchley |
| author_sort | Panteleimon Xofis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Fire is an ecological and disturbance factor with a significant historical role in shaping the landscape of fire-prone environments. Despite the large amount of literature regarding post-fire vegetation dynamics, the north-east Mediterranean region is rather underrepresented in the literature. Studies that refer to the early post fire years and long term research are rather scarce. The current study is conducted in the socially and geographically isolated peninsula of Mount Athos (Holly Mountain) in northern Greece, and it studies vegetation dynamics over a period of 30 years since the last fire. Field data were collected 11 years since the event and were used to identify the present plant communities in the area, using TWINSPAN, and the factors affecting their distribution using CART. Four Landsat (TM, ETM, OLI) images are employed for the calculation of NDVI, which was found effective in detecting the intercommunity variation in the study area, and it is used for long term monitoring. The study includes four communities, from maquis to forest which are common in the Mediterranean region covering a wide altitudinal range. The results suggest that fire affects the various communities in a different way and their recovery differs significantly. While forest communities recover quickly after fire, maintaining their composition and structure, the maquis communities may need several years before reaching the pre-fire characteristics. The dry climatic conditions of the study area are probably the reason for the slow recovery of the most fire prone communities. Given that climate change is expected to make the conditions even drier in the region, studies like this emphasize the need to adopt measures for controlling wildfires and preventing ecosystem degradation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:09:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-eda5426dfc3b4317affd59b935d7b0f7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-6255 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:09:41Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Fire |
| spelling | doaj.art-eda5426dfc3b4317affd59b935d7b0f72023-11-23T08:14:37ZengMDPI AGFire2571-62552021-12-01449210.3390/fire4040092Long Term Post-Fire Vegetation Dynamics in North-East Mediterranean Ecosystems. The Case of Mount Athos GreecePanteleimon Xofis0Peter G. Buckley1Ioannis Takos2Jonathan Mitchley3Department of Forestry and Natural Environment, International Hellenic University, 1st km Drama-Mikrohori, GR66100 Drama, GreecePeter Buckley Associates, Oast Barn, 37a The Green, Woodchurch, Ashford TN26 3PF, UKDepartment of Forestry and Natural Environment, International Hellenic University, 1st km Drama-Mikrohori, GR66100 Drama, GreeceSchool of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AS, UKFire is an ecological and disturbance factor with a significant historical role in shaping the landscape of fire-prone environments. Despite the large amount of literature regarding post-fire vegetation dynamics, the north-east Mediterranean region is rather underrepresented in the literature. Studies that refer to the early post fire years and long term research are rather scarce. The current study is conducted in the socially and geographically isolated peninsula of Mount Athos (Holly Mountain) in northern Greece, and it studies vegetation dynamics over a period of 30 years since the last fire. Field data were collected 11 years since the event and were used to identify the present plant communities in the area, using TWINSPAN, and the factors affecting their distribution using CART. Four Landsat (TM, ETM, OLI) images are employed for the calculation of NDVI, which was found effective in detecting the intercommunity variation in the study area, and it is used for long term monitoring. The study includes four communities, from maquis to forest which are common in the Mediterranean region covering a wide altitudinal range. The results suggest that fire affects the various communities in a different way and their recovery differs significantly. While forest communities recover quickly after fire, maintaining their composition and structure, the maquis communities may need several years before reaching the pre-fire characteristics. The dry climatic conditions of the study area are probably the reason for the slow recovery of the most fire prone communities. Given that climate change is expected to make the conditions even drier in the region, studies like this emphasize the need to adopt measures for controlling wildfires and preventing ecosystem degradation.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/4/4/92<i>Quecrus coccifera</i>maquis vegetationNDVIchange detectionpost fire succession |
| spellingShingle | Panteleimon Xofis Peter G. Buckley Ioannis Takos Jonathan Mitchley Long Term Post-Fire Vegetation Dynamics in North-East Mediterranean Ecosystems. The Case of Mount Athos Greece Fire <i>Quecrus coccifera</i> maquis vegetation NDVI change detection post fire succession |
| title | Long Term Post-Fire Vegetation Dynamics in North-East Mediterranean Ecosystems. The Case of Mount Athos Greece |
| title_full | Long Term Post-Fire Vegetation Dynamics in North-East Mediterranean Ecosystems. The Case of Mount Athos Greece |
| title_fullStr | Long Term Post-Fire Vegetation Dynamics in North-East Mediterranean Ecosystems. The Case of Mount Athos Greece |
| title_full_unstemmed | Long Term Post-Fire Vegetation Dynamics in North-East Mediterranean Ecosystems. The Case of Mount Athos Greece |
| title_short | Long Term Post-Fire Vegetation Dynamics in North-East Mediterranean Ecosystems. The Case of Mount Athos Greece |
| title_sort | long term post fire vegetation dynamics in north east mediterranean ecosystems the case of mount athos greece |
| topic | <i>Quecrus coccifera</i> maquis vegetation NDVI change detection post fire succession |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/4/4/92 |
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