1
|
Sayahnia R, Ommi S, Khoshnamvand H, Salmanpour F, Sadeghi SMM, Ahmadzadeh F. Fire protection priorities in the oak forests of Iran with an emphasis on vertebrate habitat preservation. Sci Rep 2024; 14:15624. [PMID: 38972910 PMCID: PMC11228051 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65355-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2024] [Accepted: 06/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/09/2024] Open
Abstract
This study examines the impact of fire incidents on wildlife and habitats in the western oak forests of Iran (Zagros region). These forests are globally recognized for their exceptional biodiversity but are frequently threatened by wildfires. To achieve this, the study uses the space-time scan statistics permutation (STSSP) model to identify areas with a higher frequency of fires. The study also analyzes the effects of fires on the Zagros forests from 2000 to 2021 using remote-sensing MODIS data. Also, to understand the elements at risk of fire, burned areas were assessed based on the richness of vertebrate species, determined by the distribution of 88 vertebrate species. The results show that the annual fire rate in the Zagros forests is 76.2 (fire occurrences per year), calculated using the Poisson distribution. Findings show the highest fire rates are found in the northwest and a part of the south of the Zagros. The northwest of the Zagros also has the largest number of single fires and clusters, indicating a wide spatial distribution of fire in these regions. On the other side, it was unexpectedly found that these regions have the richest number of species and higher habitat value. The results demonstrate a significant correlation between the value of the habitat and the extent of burned areas (p < 0.05). The study also reveals that the greatest impact of fires is on small vertebrates. The overlap of frequent fire spots with the richest regions of Zagros oak forests in terms of vertebrate diversity emphasizes the need for strategic forest risk reduction planning, especially in these priority zones.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Romina Sayahnia
- Department of Environmental Planning and Design, Environmental Sciences Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Salma Ommi
- Department of Environmental Planning and Design, Environmental Sciences Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Hadi Khoshnamvand
- Department of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, Environmental Sciences Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Farid Salmanpour
- Department of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, Environmental Sciences Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Faraham Ahmadzadeh
- Department of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, Environmental Sciences Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Palta Ş, Özel HB, Kanbur S, de Souza TAF. Impact of wildfire on soil characteristics and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT 2024; 196:681. [PMID: 38954029 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-024-12779-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Abstract
This study explored whether wildfire alters the soil properties and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) community composition when compared with burnt rangeland, non-burnt rangeland and adjacent tilled in mesothermal ecosystems. The study was carried out in August 2020, 1 year later after wildfire. The results of this study showed that the wildfire played a key role in altering soil characteristics and AMF community composition in Bartin Province located in the Western Black Sea Region. Soil samples were made according to standard methods. AMF spores were isolated according to the wet sieving method, and the spores of AMF were identified according to their morphological characteristics. Analysis of variance was performed to determine the differences between the parameters, and correlation analysis was performed to determine the relationships between the parameters. The highest values of soil organic carbon (2.20%), total nitrogen (0.18%), K2O (74.68 kg/da), root colonization (87.5%) and the frequency of occurrence of Funneliformis geosporum (20%), Claroideoglomus claroideum (16%) and Claroideoglomus etunicatum (11%) were found in burnt rangeland. Sporulation of Acaulospora dilatata, Acaulospora morrowiae, Acaulospora tuberculata, Scutellospora castanea, Scutellospora coralloidea, Scutellospora scutata, Glomus coremioides and Glomus multicaule was either decreased or completely inhibited in the burnt rangeland. While species diversity of AMF (12) decreased, the number of AMF spores (325.6 (number/50 gr soil)) increased in burnt areas. In conclusion, the number of spores and root colonization of AMF increased but species diversity of AMF reduced after the wildfire. In ecosystems with high fire risk where AMF transfer is planned, it is suggested that it would be more appropriate to select species with an increase in spore number after fire.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Şahin Palta
- Division of Watershed Management, Subdivision of Range Management, Department of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry, Bartın University, 74100, Bartın, Turkey.
| | - Halil Barış Özel
- Division of Watershed Management, Subdivision of Range Management, Department of Forest Engineering, Faculty of Forestry, Bartın University, 74100, Bartın, Turkey
| | - Sinem Kanbur
- Department of Forestry Engineering, Graduate School, Bartın University, 74100, Bartın, Turkey
| | - Tancredo Augusto Feitosa de Souza
- Agrarian Science Centre, Department of Soils and Rural Engineering, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, 58397-000, Areia, Paraíba, Brazil
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Heydari M, Cheraghi J, Omidipour R, Rostaminia M, Kooch Y, Valkó O, Carcaillet C. Tree dieback, woody plant diversity, and ecosystem driven by topography in semi-arid mountain forests: Implication for ecosystem management. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2023; 339:117892. [PMID: 37075630 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2023] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Mountain landscapes are highly heterogeneous due to topography, notably positions along slope and slope shapes, which control ecosystem mechanisms. We hypothesized that tree dieback is controlled by topography, selecting productive and less diverse communities in lower slopes, and stress-resistant and more diverse communities on upper slopes. Understanding how this heterogeneity drives vegetation patterns should provide benchmarks for ecosystem management of mountain forest dominated by Quercus brantii. Woody communities were sampled along convex vs concave topography (i.e., ridge vs talweg), and with measurements of tree dieback severity, environmental variables (litter depth, soil quality, rock outcrop), stand structure (canopy cover, mistletoe infestation, tree diameter and height, diameter and height differentiations, oaks' number from sprout-clumps or seed-origin), and biodiversity. Slope position was the most significant driver that affected all variables, excepted evenness. Dieback severity was higher on slope shoulders and summits, and lower in lower slopes where trees were the most productive: taller, larger, more homogeneous, and mostly seed-origin. Catena shape affected the diversity and dieback severity, both higher in talwegs, but had no effect on environmental variables and little on stand structure. Outputs indicate that the higher diversity of woody plants is on upper slopes supporting stress-resistant community associated with more severe dieback and mistletoe infection probably because frugivore birds attracted by the shrubs' fruits. Semi-arid forest management must consider the shaped-slope ecosystem heterogeneity by preserving ridges that are more susceptible to tree dieback, and naturally support biodiversity. Restoration measures on lower fertile slopes could be carried out by oak planting or seedlings under the cover of shrubs to counter dieback effects and environmental stresses. In addition, forestry measures can be taken in lower positions for the conversion of coppice to high oak forest to potentially consider a moderate forestry.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mehdi Heydari
- Department of Forest Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran.
| | - Javad Cheraghi
- Department of Forest Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran.
| | - Reza Omidipour
- Department of Rangeland and Watershed Management, Faculty of Natural Resources and Earth Sciences, Shahrekord University, 8818634141 , Shahrekord, Iran.
| | - Mahmood Rostaminia
- Department of Soil and Water, Faculty of Agriculture, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran.
| | - Yahya Kooch
- Faculty of Natural Resources & Marine Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, 46417-76489, Noor, Mazandaran, Iran.
| | - Orsolya Valkó
- 'Lendület' Seed Ecology Research Group, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, 2-4 Alkotmány Str., H-2163, Vácrátót, Hungary.
| | - Christopher Carcaillet
- Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris Sciences & Lettres Université (EPHE-PSL), F-75014, Paris, France; Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS, ENTPE (UMR 5023 LEHNA), F-69622, Villeurbanne, France; Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Cheng Z, Wu S, Du J, Liu Y, Sui X, Yang L. Reduced Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) Diversity in Light and Moderate Fire Sites in Taiga Forests, Northeast China. Microorganisms 2023; 11:1836. [PMID: 37513008 PMCID: PMC10385377 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11071836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Forest fires are an important disturbance factor in forest ecosystems, and obviously change the soil environment. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, as a medium and bridge between vegetation and soil, play a crucial role in mediating plant nutrient uptake and regulating the productivity, stability, and succession of vegetation-soil systems. To investigate the effects of forest fires on the community structure and diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in cold-temperate Larix gmelinii forests, we collected soils from light, moderate, and heavy fire disturbance forests and a natural forest as a control forest in Greater Khingan Larix gmelinii forests, in the northeast of China. The community structure and diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi was sequenced using Illumina MiSeq technology and we analyzed the correlation with the soil physicochemical characteristics. The results showed that the contents of microbial biomass content (MBC), moisture content (MC), total nitrogen (TN), and available phosphors (AP) increased significantly (p < 0.05) with increasing fire intensity (from Light to heavy fire), but available potassium (AK) decreased significantly (p < 0.05). These changes were not significant. A total of 14,554 valid sequences from all sequences were classified into 66 ASVs that belonged into one phylum, one order, four families, and four genera. The genera included Glomus, Ambispora, Paraglomus, and Acaulospora, and Glomus was the dominant genus (the genera with the five most relative abundances) in the control and heavy-fire forests. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analysis showed that forest fires significantly affected the community structure of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (p < 0.01). Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that MBC, SOC, and AP contents significantly affected the composition structure and diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi communities. This study indicated that forest fires affected the composition and diversity of soil arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi communities through changing the soil physicochemical parameters (MBC, SOC, and AP) in cold-temperate Larix gmelinii forests. The study of soil physicochemical properties and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi diversity in cold-temperate Larix gmelinii forests in the Greater Khingan Mountains after forest fires provides a reference basis for the revegetation and reconstruction of fire sites.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhichao Cheng
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity, Institute of Natural Resources and Ecology, Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences, Harbin 150040, China
| | - Song Wu
- Science and Technology Innovation Center, Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin 150028, China
| | - Jun Du
- Heilongjiang Huzhong National Nature Reserve, Huzhong 165038, China
| | - Yongzhi Liu
- Heilongjiang Huzhong National Nature Reserve, Huzhong 165038, China
| | - Xin Sui
- Engineering Research Center of Agricultural Microbiology Technology, Ministry of Education & Heilongjiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Ecological Restoration and Resource Utilization for Cold Region & Key Laboratory of Microbiology, College of Heilongjiang Province, School of Life Sciences, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, China
| | - Libin Yang
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity, Institute of Natural Resources and Ecology, Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences, Harbin 150040, China
- Heilongjiang Huzhong National Nature Reserve, Huzhong 165038, China
- Engineering Research Center of Agricultural Microbiology Technology, Ministry of Education & Heilongjiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Ecological Restoration and Resource Utilization for Cold Region & Key Laboratory of Microbiology, College of Heilongjiang Province, School of Life Sciences, Heilongjiang University, Harbin 150080, China
| |
Collapse
|