Masri, Talih National Council for Scientific Research - Centre for Remote Sensing, Lebanon , Khater, Carla National Council for Scientific Research - Centre for Remote Sensing, Lebanon , Masri, Nabil SI Joseph University - Faculty ofHuman Sciences - Geographic Department, Lebanon , Zeidan, Charbel Lebanese University - Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Lebanon

Regeneration capability and economic losses after fire in Mediterranean forests-Lebanon

34165

The impact of forest fire on three Mediterranean forest types: Pinus pinea, Pinus halepensislbrutia and broadleaved was assessed through three indicators: regeneration capability, wood and Non Wood Forest Product (NWFP) losses. In every forest type, five plots of burnt forest through a sequence of 5 years interval, from 1 to 20 years repeated 4 times, were investigated to follow the plant canopy restoration capability. Another 10 healthy non burnt plots were randomly chosen in each forest type for wood quantity estimations. The burnt broadleaved trees regenerate immediately through dormant buds located on stems or on roots. The P. brutia has always shown abundant seed regeneration, while the P. pinea regeneration has taken place only in burnt stands whose cones were not collected previously. The forest understorey canopy regeneration has followed the same plant species that preexist before the fire. The plant composition is related mainly to the series of vegetation associated to the soil mother rock, rather than any other abiotic factor. Their density is negatively correlated with the altitudinal zonality. In addition, the germination of opportunistic plant species such as Inula viscosa, as well as the recolonization process ofthe thorny plants, such as Calycotome villosa, Poterium spinosum Ononis spinosa and Carlina involucrata, was common and dominant in all burnt forest types. With time, some structural changes have taken place according to the trees layer cover (dominant climax): the older is the forest, the more is denser its tree layer and the less the soil is covered by shrubs and herbs. Soil erosion can thus be more accelerated in aged non managed and neglected forests. The Pinus pinea forest is the most affected by fires. The economic losses are estimated to reach 114330 US Slha. As for the P. brutia and broadleaved forests, the wood losses were estimated at 21700 US$ and 5812 US$/ ha, respectively. These losses can be diminished if the dry wood that stood upright after the fire occurrence is adequately exploited.

37

forest fire impact , restoration capability , erosion intensity , wood losses

Lebanese Science Journal

47