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Type: Journal Article
Author(s): S. Nowak; G. P. Kershaw; L. J. Kershaw
Publication Date: 2002

Postfire development of cover and diversity was studied in an upland Picea mariana-dominated forest in theCanadian Subarctic. Short-term vegetation responses of 10- and 22-year-old cleared rights-of-way and a forest site were investigated two and three growing seasons after a wildfire. Prefire and postfire investigation of the study site allowed direct comparison of species cover and frequency values, as well as the Shannon-Wiener diversity index, before and after the fire. The fire considerably reduced diversity on all sites. Species diversity increased with the level of prefire disturbance. Prefire disturbance influenced the fire's characteristics by altering the fuel load and soil moisture, which in turn affected the postfire revegetationthrough different soil and microclimatic conditions. The sites that were most severely disturbed before the fire experienced the most rapid revegetation, including the highest diversity index and highest plant cover. Of the sites that were undisturbed before the fire, the natural drainage swales offered the best growing conditions after the burn. Furthermore, prefire disturbance increased the patchiness of the burned area, and the residual flora of unburned patches added to postfire floristic diversity. © The Arctic Institute of North America.

Citation: Nowak, S., G. P. Kershaw, and L. J. Kershaw. 2002. Plant diversity and cover after wildfire on anthropogenic ally disturbed and undisturbed sites in Subarctic upland Picea mariana forest. Arctic, v. 55, no. 3, p. 269-280.

Cataloging Information

Topics:
Regions:
Keywords:
  • black spruce
  • boreal
  • boreal forests
  • Canada
  • cover
  • disturbance
  • drainage
  • fire frequency
  • fire management
  • forest management
  • fuel loading
  • industrial corridor
  • microclimate
  • Northwest Territories
  • Picea mariana
  • population density
  • post fire recovery
  • postfire
  • soil moisture
  • species diversity (plants)
  • subarctic vegetation
  • succession
  • succession
  • vegetation surveys
  • wildfire
  • wildfires
Tall Timbers Record Number: 26849Location Status: Not in fileCall Number: Not in FileAbstract Status: Okay, Fair use, Reproduced by permission
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 50267

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by Tall Timbers and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of Tall Timbers.