Fire tolerance of three tree species in pine–oak forests of Chignahuapan, Puebla, Mexico
Juana E. Juárez Bravo A , Dante A. Rodríguez-Trejo A C and Ronald L. Myers BA División de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Chapingo, Estado de México, C.P. 56230, México.
B Grupo Las Caras del Fuego, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, USA.
C Corresponding author. Email: dantearturo@yahoo.com
International Journal of Wildland Fire 21(7) 873-881 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF11134
Submitted: 13 September 2011 Accepted: 14 May 2012 Published: 18 July 2012
Abstract
Resprouting is a common recovery strategy of many tree and shrub species in fire-prone environments and is an important determinant of post-fire dominance and vegetation dynamics in many ecosystems. Top-kill, mortality and resprouting of the trees Quercus crassifolia, Arbutus xalapensis and Pinus teocote were studied on contiguous burned and unburned sites in the pine–oak forests of Chignahuapan, Puebla, Mexico. The study sample consisted of 375 individual trees, 199 on the burned site and 176 on the unburned site. T-tests and logistic regression were used in the statistical analysis. The number of resprouts per tree increased significantly (P < 0.001) in the broadleaved species, but not in the pine species. On the sites affected by fire, the smaller the diameter and higher the extent of top-kill in Q. crassifolia, the greater the probability of resprouting. None of the species exhibited differences in mortality (P > 0.05) regardless of fire or lack of fire. With Q. crassifolia, top-kill and tree death were greatest in the smaller-diameter individuals. Also, the probability of top-kill was much greater than the probability of mortality; however, this difference diminished at diameters greater than 16 cm. Similarly, with A. xalapensis, there was an inverse relationship between diameter and probability of tree death.
Additional keywords: Arbutus xalapensis, Pinus teocote, probability of mortality, probability of resprouting, Quercus crassifolia, wildland fire.
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