Post-fire dynamics of recolonization by Cistus plants in the Aleppo pine and Cork oak forests in Bejaia region, central north Algeria

Benzina Imene (), Bekdouche Farid and Bachir Abdelkrim Si
Additional contact information
Benzina Imene: Laboratory ‘’Biodiversity, Biotechnology and Sustainable Development’’, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University Mostefa Benboulaid Batna 2, 05078 - Algeria
Bekdouche Farid: Laboratory ‘’Biodiversity, Biotechnology and Sustainable Development’’, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University Mostefa Benboulaid Batna 2, 05078 - Algeria
Bachir Abdelkrim Si: Laboratory ‘’Biodiversity, Biotechnology and Sustainable Development’’, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, University Mostefa Benboulaid Batna 2, 05078 - Algeria

Environmental & Socio-economic Studies, 2024, vol. 12, issue 2, 40-47

Abstract: In August 2021, very intense fires swept through various forested areas in northern Algeria, particularly in Kabylia. The population dynamics of Cistus salviifolius and Cistus monspeliensis were studied along a post-fire successional gradient during the first nine months (September 2021 – May 2022), in two forest communities: the Cork oak (Quercus suber) and the Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) forests in the coastal zone of Bejaia province. The Cistus spp. germinations were counted monthly in each forest on 10 plots of 1 m2, evenly distributed along 2 transects of 45 m each. The results showed that the majority of germinations occur in December with 207.5 ± 24.2 seedlings in the Cork oak forest and 171.3 ± 18.0 seedlings in the Aleppo pine forest. Student's t-test does not reveal significant differences for December between the two communities. During the first months following the fire (September and October 2021), germinations were almost absent. The monthly rainfall in September 2021 was estimated at 16.25 mm, an insufficient amount for effective germination. Late germination results in an extension of its period, showed a high rate in January 2022 with 42.2 ± 2.1 and 11.5 ± 0.8 seedlings, respectively, in the Cork oak forest and the pine forest. Beyond January, germination was practically nonexistent in both communities. Therefore, the majority of the seed germination was concentrated in November, December, and January with a unimodal germination pattern.

Keywords: Cistus species germination; fire; Pinus halepensis; Quercus suber; Bejaia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.2478/environ-2024-0011 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:enviro:v:12:y:2024:i:2:p:40-47:n:1004

DOI: 10.2478/environ-2024-0011

Access Statistics for this article

Environmental & Socio-economic Studies is currently edited by Renata Dulias

More articles in Environmental & Socio-economic Studies from Sciendo
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Peter Golla ().