Soil fertilisation contributes to mitigating forest fire hazard associated with Cistus monspeliensis L. (rock rose) shrublands
Simonetta Bagella A B E , Maria Sitzia C and Pier Paolo Roggero B D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Dipartimento di Scienze della Natura e del Territorio, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Via Piandanna 4, 07100 Sassari, Italy.
B Nucleo Ricerca Desertificazione NRD, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Viale Italia 39, 07100 Sassari, Italy.
C Agris Sardegna, loc. Bonassai, 07041 Olmedo (SS), Italy.
D Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Viale Italia 39, 07100 Sassari, Italy.
E Corresponding author. Email: sbagella@uniss.it
International Journal of Wildland Fire 26(2) 156-166 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF16114
Submitted: 18 June 2016 Accepted: 4 November 2016 Published: 1 February 2017
Abstract
Cistus monspeliensis shrublands are strongly exposed to fire hazard and are rapidly expanding on oligotrophic soils as a consequence of the abandonment of silvopastoral activities. We hypothesised that nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilisation could contribute to reduce Cistus cover and biomass and to direct the regeneration of the vegetation from seed bank after fire to grasslands able to prevent recurrent wildfires. Two experiments were performed to evaluate the effects of NP fertilisation on plant assemblage composition, diversity, grazing value, dry matter production and Cistus shrubland regeneration in (i) established shrublands, or (ii) recovering vegetation in burned areas. In the shrublands, NP fertilisation negatively affected Cistus cover, regeneration and biomass and significantly improved grazing value without significant effect on plant diversity. In burned areas, NP fertilisation significantly suppressed C. monspeliensis seedlings, increased the grazing value during the first 3 years since the last fire while it significantly reduced plant diversity. The increased grazing value following fertilisation in both burned and unburned areas is high enough to support silvopastoral activities. Soil fertilisation can be a key tool to support the conversion of shrublands in oligotrophic soils into productive grasslands, particularly when surrounding forests and urbanised areas, to reduce wildfire hazards through pastoral activities.
Additional keywords: C. monspeliensis regeneration, dry matter production, grazing value, Mediterranean environment, nitrogen, oligotrophic soils, phosphorus, silvopastoral activities, species richness.
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