Effects of biological legacies and herbivory on fuels and flammability traits: A long-term experimental study of alternative stable states

Ecological memory, often determined by the extent and type of retained biological legacies present following disturbance, may produce persistent landscape patterns. However, after fire, the persistence or switch to an alternative state may depend on the complex interplay of ecological memory (biolog...

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Published in:Journal of Ecology
Main Authors: Blackhall, Melisa, Raffaele, Estela, Paritsis, Juan, Tiribelli, Florencia, Morales, Juan Manuel, Kitzberger, Thomas, Gowda, Juan Janakiram Haridas, Veblen, Thomas
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley Blackwell Publishing, Inc
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/57960
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spelling ftconicet:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/57960 2023-10-09T21:47:06+02:00 Effects of biological legacies and herbivory on fuels and flammability traits: A long-term experimental study of alternative stable states Blackhall, Melisa Raffaele, Estela Paritsis, Juan Tiribelli, Florencia Morales, Juan Manuel Kitzberger, Thomas Gowda, Juan Janakiram Haridas Veblen, Thomas application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/11336/57960 eng eng Wiley Blackwell Publishing, Inc info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.12796 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2745.12796 http://hdl.handle.net/11336/57960 Blackhall, Melisa; Raffaele, Estela; Paritsis, Juan; Tiribelli, Florencia; Morales, Juan Manuel; et al.; Effects of biological legacies and herbivory on fuels and flammability traits: A long-term experimental study of alternative stable states; Wiley Blackwell Publishing, Inc; Journal of Ecology; 105; 5; 9-2017; 1309-1322 0022-0477 CONICET Digital CONICET info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/ ECOLOGICAL MEMORY LIVESTOCK EFFECTS NON-RESPROUTING SPECIES NOTHOFAGUS SPP PLANT POPULATION AND COMMUNITY DYNAMICS PLANT–HERBIVORE INTERACTIONS PYROPHOBIC FORESTS PYROPHYTIC SHRUBLANDS RESPROUTING https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6 https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion ftconicet https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12796 2023-09-24T19:14:07Z Ecological memory, often determined by the extent and type of retained biological legacies present following disturbance, may produce persistent landscape patterns. However, after fire, the persistence or switch to an alternative state may depend on the complex interplay of ecological memory (biological legacies) and potential effects of new external factors influencing the post-fire environment. The current study assesses both the strength of ecological memory resulting from biological legacies of pre-burn vegetation types as well as post-fire effects of livestock. Following a severe fire in 1999, we set up a network of long-term exclosures to examine the effects of legacies and cumulative herbivory by cattle on fuel types, amounts, distribution, flammability and microenvironmental conditions in two post-fire communities representing alternative fire-driven states: pyrophobic Nothofagus pumilio subalpine forests and pyrophytic Nothofagus antarctica tall shrublands in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. Our results show that the retained post-disturbance legacies of tall shrublands and subalpine forests largely determine fuel and flammability traits of the post-fire plant communities 16 years after fire. The importance of biological legacies retained from the unburned plant communities was reflected by the substantially higher amounts of total fine fuel, greater vertical and horizontal fuel continuity and the higher temperatures reached during experimental tissue combustion at post-fire shrubland compared to post-fire forest sites. We show that herbivores may produce antagonistic effects on flammability by decreasing tissue ignitability, total fine fuel and litter depth, and disrupting the vertical and horizontal fine fuel continuity, therefore reducing the probability of fire propagation. However, cattle can increase ratios of dead to live fine fuels, reduce soil moisture, and inhibit tree height growth to canopy size, consequently impeding the development of a closed pyrophobic forest canopy. Synthesis. Our ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica CONICET Digital (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas) Patagonia Argentina Journal of Ecology 105 5 1309 1322
institution Open Polar
collection CONICET Digital (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas)
op_collection_id ftconicet
language English
topic ECOLOGICAL MEMORY
LIVESTOCK EFFECTS
NON-RESPROUTING SPECIES
NOTHOFAGUS SPP
PLANT POPULATION AND COMMUNITY DYNAMICS
PLANT–HERBIVORE INTERACTIONS
PYROPHOBIC FORESTS
PYROPHYTIC SHRUBLANDS
RESPROUTING
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
spellingShingle ECOLOGICAL MEMORY
LIVESTOCK EFFECTS
NON-RESPROUTING SPECIES
NOTHOFAGUS SPP
PLANT POPULATION AND COMMUNITY DYNAMICS
PLANT–HERBIVORE INTERACTIONS
PYROPHOBIC FORESTS
PYROPHYTIC SHRUBLANDS
RESPROUTING
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
Blackhall, Melisa
Raffaele, Estela
Paritsis, Juan
Tiribelli, Florencia
Morales, Juan Manuel
Kitzberger, Thomas
Gowda, Juan Janakiram Haridas
Veblen, Thomas
Effects of biological legacies and herbivory on fuels and flammability traits: A long-term experimental study of alternative stable states
topic_facet ECOLOGICAL MEMORY
LIVESTOCK EFFECTS
NON-RESPROUTING SPECIES
NOTHOFAGUS SPP
PLANT POPULATION AND COMMUNITY DYNAMICS
PLANT–HERBIVORE INTERACTIONS
PYROPHOBIC FORESTS
PYROPHYTIC SHRUBLANDS
RESPROUTING
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
description Ecological memory, often determined by the extent and type of retained biological legacies present following disturbance, may produce persistent landscape patterns. However, after fire, the persistence or switch to an alternative state may depend on the complex interplay of ecological memory (biological legacies) and potential effects of new external factors influencing the post-fire environment. The current study assesses both the strength of ecological memory resulting from biological legacies of pre-burn vegetation types as well as post-fire effects of livestock. Following a severe fire in 1999, we set up a network of long-term exclosures to examine the effects of legacies and cumulative herbivory by cattle on fuel types, amounts, distribution, flammability and microenvironmental conditions in two post-fire communities representing alternative fire-driven states: pyrophobic Nothofagus pumilio subalpine forests and pyrophytic Nothofagus antarctica tall shrublands in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. Our results show that the retained post-disturbance legacies of tall shrublands and subalpine forests largely determine fuel and flammability traits of the post-fire plant communities 16 years after fire. The importance of biological legacies retained from the unburned plant communities was reflected by the substantially higher amounts of total fine fuel, greater vertical and horizontal fuel continuity and the higher temperatures reached during experimental tissue combustion at post-fire shrubland compared to post-fire forest sites. We show that herbivores may produce antagonistic effects on flammability by decreasing tissue ignitability, total fine fuel and litter depth, and disrupting the vertical and horizontal fine fuel continuity, therefore reducing the probability of fire propagation. However, cattle can increase ratios of dead to live fine fuels, reduce soil moisture, and inhibit tree height growth to canopy size, consequently impeding the development of a closed pyrophobic forest canopy. Synthesis. Our ...
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Blackhall, Melisa
Raffaele, Estela
Paritsis, Juan
Tiribelli, Florencia
Morales, Juan Manuel
Kitzberger, Thomas
Gowda, Juan Janakiram Haridas
Veblen, Thomas
author_facet Blackhall, Melisa
Raffaele, Estela
Paritsis, Juan
Tiribelli, Florencia
Morales, Juan Manuel
Kitzberger, Thomas
Gowda, Juan Janakiram Haridas
Veblen, Thomas
author_sort Blackhall, Melisa
title Effects of biological legacies and herbivory on fuels and flammability traits: A long-term experimental study of alternative stable states
title_short Effects of biological legacies and herbivory on fuels and flammability traits: A long-term experimental study of alternative stable states
title_full Effects of biological legacies and herbivory on fuels and flammability traits: A long-term experimental study of alternative stable states
title_fullStr Effects of biological legacies and herbivory on fuels and flammability traits: A long-term experimental study of alternative stable states
title_full_unstemmed Effects of biological legacies and herbivory on fuels and flammability traits: A long-term experimental study of alternative stable states
title_sort effects of biological legacies and herbivory on fuels and flammability traits: a long-term experimental study of alternative stable states
publisher Wiley Blackwell Publishing, Inc
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/57960
geographic Patagonia
Argentina
geographic_facet Patagonia
Argentina
genre Antarc*
Antarctica
genre_facet Antarc*
Antarctica
op_relation info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.12796
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2745.12796
http://hdl.handle.net/11336/57960
Blackhall, Melisa; Raffaele, Estela; Paritsis, Juan; Tiribelli, Florencia; Morales, Juan Manuel; et al.; Effects of biological legacies and herbivory on fuels and flammability traits: A long-term experimental study of alternative stable states; Wiley Blackwell Publishing, Inc; Journal of Ecology; 105; 5; 9-2017; 1309-1322
0022-0477
CONICET Digital
CONICET
op_rights info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12796
container_title Journal of Ecology
container_volume 105
container_issue 5
container_start_page 1309
op_container_end_page 1322
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