Descripción del proyecto
THE ABILITY OF ECOSYSTEMS TO SIMULTANEOUSLY PROVIDE MULTIPLE ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS, SUCH AS NUTRIENT CYCLING, CARBON STOCKS, WATER REGULATION, DECOMPOSITION, AND WOOD PRODUCTION, IS DEFINED AS ECOSYSTEM MULTIFUNCTIONALITY. AT THE SAME TIME, FORESTS ARE HIGHLY VULNERABLE TO GLOBAL CHANGE DRIVERS, SUCH AS INCREASED FIRE INTENSITY, WHICH MIGHT DRASTICALLY ALTER FOREST FUNCTIONS AND COMMUNITY-LEVEL PROPERTIES, SUCH AS PLANT COVER OR COMMUNITY COMPOSITION. IN RECENT DECADES, THE FIRE REGIME HAS CHANGED DUE TO ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS (SUCH AS THE CLIMATE CHANGE OR THE ABANDONMENT OF RURAL AREAS), WHICH HAVE LED TO AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER, FREQUENCY, INTENSITY, EXTENSION AND SEVERITY OF FIRE EVENTS, PARTICULARLY IN THE MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES. ON THIS CONTEXT, POST-FIRE MANAGEMENT IS A CRUCIAL ELEMENT AIMING TO PRESERVE AND RECOVERY FOREST ECOSYSTEMS FUNCTIONS AND BIODIVERSITY TO PRE-FIRE LEVELS IN THE SHORT AND LONG TERM AFTER WILDFIRES. IN SPITE OF THE STANDARDISED POSTFIRE MANAGEMENT PROTOCOLS, THERE IS NO CONCISE EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF POST-FIRE RESTORATION TECHNIQUES. YEAR BY YEAR, ALL THESE STRATEGIES ARE APPLIED BY MANAGERS ALL OVER THE MEDITERRANEAN AREA WITHOUT NO PREVIOUS RESEARCH OR EVALUATION ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF PREVIOUSLY ESTABLISHED POSTFIRE MANAGEMENT OPTIONS. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE IS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF FIRE AND POSTFIRE MANAGEMENT INCLUDING LOG EROSION BARRIERS (LEB), CONTOUR-FELLED LOG DEBRIS (CFD), STRAW MULCHING (MG), AND NON-ACTION AFTER WILDFIRES (BNA) ON PLANT DIVERSITY, SOIL PROPERTIES AND MULTIPLE ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS (NUTRIENT CYCLING, CLIMATE REGULATION, WASTE DECOMPOSITION, SYMBIOSIS, WOOD PRODUCTION AND WATER REGULATION) IN THE SHORT- AND MEDIUM-TERM (FROM 1 YEAR UP TO 13 YEARS AFTER WILDFIRES) IN TWO CLIMATICALLY DIFFERENT FOREST ECOSYSTEMS (SEMIARID AND SUBHUMID MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE). A NEARBY UNAFFECTED WILDFIRE AREA (UB), CHOSEN AS THE REFERENCE SYSTEM, PROVIDED BASELINE VALUES OF FOREST STRUCTURE, PROPERTIES, AND GENERAL INDICATORS OF FOREST FUNCTIONS IN UNBURNED FOREST. SECONDLY, WE AIM TO DEVELOP A MULTIFUNCTIONALITY INDEX, BASED ON FOREST ECOSYSTEMS STRUCTURE AND FOREST FUNCTIONS INDICATORS IN ORDER TO INFORM FOREST MANAGERS, SOCIETY, POLITICIANS AND POLICY-MAKERS ABOUT THE EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICACY OF POST-FIRE RESTORATION TECHNIQUES IN MEDITERRANEAN AREAS. WE HYPOTHESIZED THAT MULTIPLE ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS IN FORESTS SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGE AFTER WILDFIRES AND THAT POST FIRE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES MAY ENHANCE RECOVERY OF MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS IN THE SHORT- AND MEDIUM-TERM AS THEY AVOID SEDIMENT DELIVERY AND PROMOTE PLANT COVER INCREASE IN MEDITERRANEAN FOREST. THE STUDY WILL BE CONDUCTED IN SIX WILDFIRE-AFFECTED AREAS AS FOLLOW: - SOUTHEAST SPAIN: LIETOR (ALBACETE, WILDFIRE IN 2021), AGRAMON (ALBACETE, WILDFIRE IN 2019) AND HELLIN (ALBACETE, WILDFIRE IN 2012). - CENTRAL-WEST SPAIN: SAN FELICES DE LOS GALLEGOS (SALAMANCA, WILDFIRE IN 2021), PEDRO BERNARDO (AVILA, WILDFIRE IN 2019), ARENAS DE SAN PEDRO (AVILA, WILDFIRE IN 2009). THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL DRAW TOGETHER POLITICAL AND SCIENTIFIC ATTENTION TO WILDFIRE-AFFECTED AREAS. THIS INFORMATION AND OBTAINED RESULTS ARE CRITICAL FOR UNDERSTANDING NOT ONLY FOREST RECOVERY AFTER A GIVEN DISTURBANCE BUT ALSO THE ROLE OF DIFFERENT POST-FIRE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN AN ATTEMPT TO RECOVER THE FOREST STRUCTURE, PROPERTIES, AND FUNCTIONS IN WILDFIRE-AFFECTED FORESTS IN THE SHORT AND MEDIUM LONG-TERM. NCENDIOS FORESTALES\DIVERSIDAD VEGETAL\EROSION DEL SUELO\MULTIFUNCIONALIDAD\MANEJO POST-INCENDIO