| Title: | Limits to post-fire vegetation recovery under climate change |
| Author(s): | Nolan RH; Collins L; Leigh A; Ooi MKJ; Curran TJ; Fairman TA; Resco de Dios V; Bradstock R; |
| Address: | "Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia. NSW Bushfire Risk Management Research Hub, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne, Creswick, Victoria, Australia. Department of Ecology, Environment & Evolution, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia. Pacific Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, Canada. School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, New South Wales, Australia. School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Department of Pest-management and Conservation, Lincoln University, Lincoln, New Zealand. School of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, China. Joint Research Unit CTFC-AGROTECNIO, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain. Department of Crop and Forest Sciences, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain. Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1365-3040 (Electronic) 0140-7791 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Record-breaking fire seasons in many regions across the globe raise important questions about plant community responses to shifting fire regimes (i.e., changing fire frequency, severity and seasonality). Here, we examine the impacts of climate-driven shifts in fire regimes on vegetation communities, and likely responses to fire coinciding with severe drought, heatwaves and/or insect outbreaks. We present scenario-based conceptual models on how overlapping disturbance events and shifting fire regimes interact differently to limit post-fire resprouting and recruitment capacity. We demonstrate that, although many communities will remain resilient to changing fire regimes in the short-term, longer-term changes to vegetation structure, demography and species composition are likely, with a range of subsequent effects on ecosystem function. Resprouting species are likely to be most resilient to changing fire regimes. However, even these species are susceptible if exposed to repeated short-interval fire in combination with other stressors. Post-fire recruitment is highly vulnerable to increased fire frequency, particularly as climatic limitations on propagule availability intensify. Prediction of community responses to fire under climate change will be greatly improved by addressing knowledge gaps on how overlapping disturbances and climate change-induced shifts in fire regime affect post-fire resprouting, recruitment, growth rates, and species-level adaptation capacity" |
| Keywords: | *Climate Change *Ecosystem *Fires *Plant Physiological Phenomena climate change germination heat stress herbivory mortality obligate seeding resprouting wildfire; |
| Notes: | "MedlineNolan, Rachael H Collins, Luke Leigh, Andy Ooi, Mark K J Curran, Timothy J Fairman, Thomas A Resco de Dios, Victor Bradstock, Ross eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Review 2021/08/29 Plant Cell Environ. 2021 Nov; 44(11):3471-3489. doi: 10.1111/pce.14176. Epub 2021 Sep 16" |
