Assessing the impact of different landscape features on post-fire forest recovery with multitemporal remote sensing data: the case of Mount Taygetos (southern Greece)

Christopoulou, Anastasia; Mallinis, Giorgos; Vassilakis, Emmanuel; Farangitakis, Georgios-Pavlos; Fyllas, Nikolaos M.; Kokkoris, Giorgos D.; Arianoutsou, Margarita

Abstract

Fires affecting large areas usually create a mosaic of recovering plant communities reflecting their pre-fire composition and local conditions of burning. However, post-fire recovery patterns may also reveal the effects of landscape heterogeneity on the natural regeneration process of plant communities. This study combines field data and remote sensing image interpretation techniques to assess the role of various landscape characteristics in the post-fire recovery process in a mountainous region of Greece burned by a severe wildfire. Remote sensing techniques were used to accurately map secluded, large burned areas. By introducing a temporal component, we explored the correlation between post-fire regeneration and underlying topography, soils and basement rock. Pre-fire forest cover was reduced by more than half 8 years after fire. Regarding the dominant pre-fire forest trees, Abies cephalonica did not regenerate well after fire and most pre-fire stands were converted to grasslands and shrublands. In contrast, Pinus nigra regenerated sufficiently to return to its pre-fire cover, especially in areas underlain by softer basement rock. The use of different time series of high-resolution images improved the quality of the results obtained, justifying their use despite their high cost.

Citation

Christopoulou, A., Mallinis, G., Vassilakis, E., Farangitakis, G.-P., Fyllas, N. M., Kokkoris, G. D., & Arianoutsou, M. (2019). Assessing the impact of different landscape features on post-fire forest recovery with multitemporal remote sensing data: the case of Mount Taygetos (southern Greece). International Journal of Wildland Fire, 28(7), 521-532. https://doi.org/10.1071/wf18153

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 22, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jul 11, 2019
• Publication Date: Jul 31, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jul 24, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 24, 2019
• Journal: International Journal of Wildland Fire
• Print ISSN: 1049-8001
• Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 28
• Issue: 7
• Pages: 521-532
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1071/wf18153
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1291803