
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Sgardelis, SP 
A1  - Pantis, JD 
A1  - Argyropoulou, MD 
A1  - Stamou, GP 
T1  - Effects of Fire on Soil Macroinvertebrates in a Mediterranean Phryganic Ecosystem
JF  - International Journal of Wildland Fire
JO  - Int. J. Wildland Fire
Y1  - 1995
VL  - 5
IS  - 2
SP  - 113
EP  - 121
KW  - Phrygana, soil macrofauna, wild fire, seasonality, community changes
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1071/WF9950113 
N2  - The effect of a summer wildfire on the abundance and community composition of soil macroinvertebrates of a phryganic ecosystem was studied. The numerical responses of macroinvertebrates to fire were variable, most notably the reduction of the saprophagous fauna. The magnitude of the changes in abundance due to fire was comparable or even lower than the variations imposed by the seasonality of the mediterranean climate. fire did not seem to affect strongly the community composition of the soil inhabiting fauna, but caused considerable changes in the composition of the litter-dwellers. Furthermore, seasonal changes in community composition were less pronounced in the burnt site compared to those in the control. The observed effects of fire should be attributed to the destruction of the litter layer and the above ground vegetation cover, rather than to the immediate death of the animals, since most of them were absent from the upper soil layers during summer, that is when fire occured. 
ER  -

