@misc{10481/54841,
year = {2019},
month = {1},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10481/54841},
abstract = {Herbaceous vegetation is a major source of interference with the regeneration of woody
species. This is particularly the case after forest fires, as a dense herbaceous layer usually regenerates
naturally. Although the competitive effect of the herbaceous vegetation upon tree seedlings has
been widely studied, there are still gaps in knowledge for management related to the effect of
tree seedling age and size on the outcome of the interaction. In this study, we seek to determine
the response of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton) seedlings to herbaceous competition at two
different seedling ages. For that, two treatments of herbaceous competition were implemented,
namely unweeded (no action around pine seedlings) and weeded (herbaceous cover removed around
pine seedlings). Treatments were conducted twice (2 and 4 years after the fire), and we monitored
seedling survival and growth at the end of each growing season. The treatments were implemented
across three adjacent landscape units that differed in the management of burned wood and that are
representative of common post-fire scenarios: no intervention, salvage logging, and an intermediate
degree of intervention. Weeding increased seedling survival from 44.7% to 67.8% when seedlings
were 2 years old, but had no effect for four-year-old seedlings, which showed 99% survival. Seedling
growth also increased in the weeding treatment, but only slightly. Moreover, growth (and survival
for two-year-old seedlings) was strongly correlated with initial seedling size, particularly in the
case of two-year-old seedlings. Initial pine seedling height was strongly and positively correlated
with the height of the herbaceous layer, supporting the existence of microsite features that promote
plant growth above competitive effects. The results support that management actions conducive to
foster post-fire pine forest restoration in this Mediterranean ecosystem should reduce herbaceous
competition at early stages after fire (second or third year) and focus on larger seedlings.},
organization = {This research was funded by projects 10/2005 from the Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales
(Spanish Government), CGL2008-01671 from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spanish
Government), and P12-RNM-2705 from Junta de Andalucía (Andalusian regional Government).},
publisher = {MDPI},
keywords = {Burnt wood management},
keywords = {Wildfire management},
keywords = {Mediterranean-type ecosystems},
keywords = {Plant demography},
keywords = {Plant competition},
keywords = {Post-fire regeneration},
keywords = {Salvage logging},
title = {Effect of Herbaceous Layer Interference on the Post-Fire Regeneration of a Serotinous Pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton) across Two Seedling Ages},
doi = {10.3390/f10010074},
author = {Castro Gutiérrez, Jorge and Leverkus, Alexandro B.},
}