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...
Published in: | Journal of Ecology |
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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 |
_version_ |
1779309863451492352 |