caa a22 4500 445383771 CHVBK 20180317143025.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20110401xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10021-011-9424-z doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10021-011-9424-z Effects of Repeated Fires on the Structure, Composition, and Dynamics of Mediterranean Maquis: Short- and Long-Term Perspectives [Elektronische Daten] [Dan Malkisnon, Lea Wittenberg, Ofer Beeri, Ronel Barzilai] Wildfires are an important agent in driving ecosystem function by altering vegetation structure and geomorphic processes. In recent decades, the number of wildfires and the total area burned has increased around the world, causing changes to natural regimes. In this study, we compared south- and north-facing slopes, their vegetation structure and dynamics, and the sediment yield generated in areas burned a number of times at the Carmel Mountain ridge in northern Israel. Our underlying hypothesis was that repeated and frequent fires significantly alter eco-geomorphic processes, including prolonged periods of soil erosion and delayed recovery of tree species. We tested whether these phenomenon are characterized by different rates on opposing aspects. To study the long-term changes of the vegetation we analyzed a 21-year (1985-2006) chrono-sequence of satellite images, in areas burned once, twice, or three times. Additionally, we estimated vegetation structure and cover at high resolutions in monitoring plots following a fire in 2005 in areas burned once or twice during the last two decades. To evaluate the long-term dynamics of the system, specific transition probabilities among the vegetation types, as a function of the number of times each site was burned, were used to construct Markov-based transition matrices. Additionally, runoff and sediment have been collected after precipitation events from the plots. The satellite image classifications revealed changes in the composition of tree, shrub, and herbaceous vegetation cover following wildfire events. Satellite image analyses suggest that recurring fires within short-time intervals may significantly alter the long-term structure of the vegetation communities, and may eliminate woody vegetation from the landscape (both trees and shrubs). Consequently, this results in the establishment and dominance of herbaceous vegetation communities. Similar trends were observed in the high-resolution monitoring plots. Sediment yields differed significantly in areas burned twice on south-facing slopes, compared to lower values obtained in areas burned once, or located on north-facing slopes. Thus, we demonstrate that repeated fires may dramatically alter long-term trajectories of Mediterranean-type vegetation communities and ecosystems. This pattern, in turn, may have significant implications for the associated geo-morphological processes, especially runoff and erosion, and should be of particular concern given recent changes of fire regimes. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 2011 repeated fires nationallicence Mediterranean ecosystem nationallicence vegetation dynamics nationallicence remote sensing nationallicence Markov model nationallicence soil erosion nationallicence Malkisnon Dan Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa, 31905, Haifa, Israel aut Wittenberg Lea Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa, 31905, Haifa, Israel aut Beeri Ofer Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa, 31905, Haifa, Israel aut Barzilai Ronel Department of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben Gurion University, 84105, Beer Sheva, Israel aut Ecosystems Springer-Verlag 14/3(2011-04-01), 478-488 1432-9840 14:3<478 2011 14 10021 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-011-9424-z text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-011-9424-z text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Malkisnon Dan Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa, 31905, Haifa, Israel aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Wittenberg Lea Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa, 31905, Haifa, Israel aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Beeri Ofer Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa, 31905, Haifa, Israel aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Barzilai Ronel Department of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben Gurion University, 84105, Beer Sheva, Israel aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Ecosystems Springer-Verlag 14/3(2011-04-01), 478-488 1432-9840 14:3<478 2011 14 10021 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer