As. Clemente et al., DEMOGRAPHIC PATTERNS AND PRODUCTIVITY OF POSTFIRE REGENERATION IN PORTUGUESE MEDITERRANEAN MAQUIS, International journal of wildland fire, 6(1), 1996, pp. 5-12
After a wildfire in September, 1991, post-fire regeneration of Serra d
a Arrabida maquis was studied and compared to an adjacent 30-yr-old un
burned site. Two years after fire, cover and aboveground biomass was h
alf of the amount found in unburned stands. This rapid recovery was ma
inly due to resprouting species: Q. coccifera was dominant during all
stages of regeneration. Herbaceous species were abundant during the fi
rst two years after fire but became scarce in the older communities. O
bligate seeders showed different patterns of recovery: Cistus species
established many seedlings immediately after fire, but were less abund
ant in older stands; Rosmarinus officinalis attained high dominance in
unburned sites but seedling recruitment was delayed, yet continuous d
uring post-fire succession. This difference between two genera with th
e same obligate seeding strategy suggests that life history responses
to environmental factors may affect or shape species distribution duri
ng post-fire regeneration.