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Higher fire frequency impaired woody species regeneration in a south-eastern Amazonian forest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2020

Roberta Thays dos Santos Cury ,
Jennifer Kakareka Balch ,
Paulo Monteiro Brando ,
Rafael Barreto Andrade ,
Renata Picolo Scervino  and
José Marcelo Domingues Torezan Open the ORCID record for José Marcelo Domingues Torezan [Opens in a new window]
Roberta Thays dos Santos Cury
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Biodiversidade e Restauração de Ecossistemas, Universidade Estadual de Londrina. Rod. Celso Garcia Cid, PR 445, Km 380, CEP 86057-990. Londrina, Paraná, Brazil Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia. Avenida Nazaré 669, CEP 66.035-170. Belém, Pará, Brazil
Jennifer Kakareka Balch
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, The University of Colorado-Boulder. Guggenheim 110, 80309Boulder, CO, USA
Paulo Monteiro Brando
Affiliation:
Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia. Avenida Nazaré 669, CEP 66.035-170. Belém, Pará, Brazil Woods Hole Research Center, 149 Woods Hole Road, 02540Falmouth, MA, USA
Rafael Barreto Andrade
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, The University of Colorado-Boulder. Guggenheim 110, 80309Boulder, CO, USA
Renata Picolo Scervino
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Biodiversidade e Restauração de Ecossistemas, Universidade Estadual de Londrina. Rod. Celso Garcia Cid, PR 445, Km 380, CEP 86057-990. Londrina, Paraná, Brazil
José Marcelo Domingues Torezan*
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Biodiversidade e Restauração de Ecossistemas, Universidade Estadual de Londrina. Rod. Celso Garcia Cid, PR 445, Km 380, CEP 86057-990. Londrina, Paraná, Brazil
*
Author for correspondence:*José Marcelo Domingues Torezan, Email: torezan@uel.br
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Abstract

Understorey wildfires harm tropical forests by affecting natural regeneration, but the trajectories of fire-disturbed forests after disturbance are poorly understood. To fill this gap, we conducted experimental burns in a transitional forest between the Amazon forests and the Brazilian Savanna (Cerrado) and investigated their effects on plant community diversity of regeneration. The experiment consisted of three 50-ha plots that between 2004 and 2010 were burned either annually (six times), every three years (thrice) or not at all (Control). To evaluate early post-fire recovery, we recorded grass occurrence and regenerating stems (≤1 cm in diameter at breast height). We noted that high fire-frequency plots had a reduction of species richness (62%) and abundance (84%) and were associated with floristic and structural changes, dominance of few species and increase of grass colonization when compared with low fire-frequency. We observed that resprouts were the main pathway for forest restoration in both burned regimes, particularly in low fire-frequency. However, the forest can recover from fires by means of resprouting, until a threshold in fire frequency is reached, when resprouts and seedlings declined for most of the species, with a few fire-tolerant species becoming dominant.

Resumo

Resumo

Incêndios têm ameaçado a dinâmica das florestas tropicais, alterando a regeneração natural, mas a dinâmica florestal após os incêndios é pouco conhecida. Para investigar os efeitos de incêndios na diversidade de plantas regenerantes foram conduzidos incêndios experimentais em um trecho de floresta transicional Amazônia-Cerrado. Os incêndios ocorreram entre 2004 e 2010, onde três parcelas de 50-ha foram queimadas anualmente (seis vezes), a cada três anos (três vezes), e não queimadas (Controle). Todas as plantas lenhosas (≤1 cm de diâmetro na altura do peito) e a ocorrência de gramíneas foram registradas. Alta frequência de incêndios reduziu a riqueza de espécies (62%) e a abundância (84%) e, resultou em alterações florísticas e estruturais, dominância de poucas espécies arbóreas e a colonização por gramíneas quando comparado com incêndios em baixa frequência. Houve aumento das rebrotas em ambos os tratamentos, especialmente onde os incêndios ocorreram em baixa frequência, tornando-se o principal meio para a restauração florestal, entretanto, as rebrotas podem manter o número de espécies até um limiar de frequência de incêndios nas florestas de transição. Após esse limiar ser atingindo, as rebrotas e as plântulas declinam, sendo substituídas por poucas espécies adaptadas ao fogo.

Keywords

Amazoniadeforestationdroughtexperimental burnfire ecologyMato GrossorecruitmentsproutingsavannaAmazonia-Cerrado transitiontropical forest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 36 , Issue 4 , July 2020 , pp. 190 - 198
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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