title: Vegetation cover and species richness after recurrent forest fires in the Eastern Mediterranean ecosystem of Mount Carmel, Israel.
abstract: Fire is a common disturbance in Mediterranean ecosystems, and can have a destructive, influential, and even essential, effect on vegetation and wildlife. In recent decades there has been a general increase in the number of fires in the Mediterranean Basin, including in Mount Carmel, Israel. The effects of recurrent forest fires on vegetation cover and species richness were determined in the spring of 2009 and 2010 by field surveys. The results of this study showed that the vegetation cover changes after recurrent forest fires, and can serve as a good indicator of the influence of fire and the resulting ecosystem rehabilitation. The dominant cover in most fire-damaged areas was composed of shrubs and dwarf-shrubs, especially Cistus salviifolius and Calicotome villosa. Tree cover was severely damaged after recurrent fires, and in those areas there was a drastic decrease of the total plant cover. Species richness increased mainly in the first decade after the recurrent fires, and decreased when the forest canopy began to close. Fire recurrence with short intervals (4-6years) between fires may lower the rehabilitated processes of the ecosystem and change its equilibrium.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Haifa 3498838, Israel; Department of Biology and Environment, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa-Oranim, Tivon 36006, Israel. Electronic address: naamates@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Naama
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tessler
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Haifa 3498838, Israel.
authors.forename: Lea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wittenberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Haifa 3498838, Israel; Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Haifa 3498838, Israel.
authors.forename: Noam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Greenbaum
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D005390:Fires; D065928:Forests; D007557:Israel; D010944:Plants / Q000145:classification; D014197:Trees / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Mediterranean; Mount Carmel; Recurrent forest fires; Species richness; Vegetation cover