RT journal article
T1 Pine afforestation, herriza and wildfire: a tale of soil erosion and biodiversity loss in the Mediterranean region
A1 Ojeda Copete, Fernando
A2 Biología
K1 conservation policies
K1 fire-adapted plants
K1 floral endemism
K1 forestry plantations
K1 Mediterranean heathland
K1 post-fire recovery
K1 tree-centric conservation
AB From a western society’s perspective, wildfires are catastrophic events that jeopardise biodiversity and causesoil erosion, not to mention risk to human lives and properties. However, many Mediterranean-type ecosystems are notonly resilient to wildfires but sensitive to the lack of wildfires. This communication focuses on the Mediterraneanheathland or herriza as a paradigmatic fire-prone ecosystem to illustrate how most negative impacts allegedly attributed towildfires actually occur in commercial forestry plantations. They are caused by aggressive forestry practices prior to thewildfire. In natural Mediterranean habitats, such as the herriza, complete wildfire suppression may actually pose a seriousthreat to biodiversity. The large existing body of scientific knowledge on the relationships of Mediterranean ecosystemswith fire should be incorporated into plans and policies dealing with wildfire and conservation to make them moreappropriate and efficient. Finally, burned natural areas should not be regarded, or treated, as dead pieces of nature anddestroyed ecosystems, but as a transitional stage within the dynamics of Mediterranean-type ecosystems.
PB CSIRO PUBLISHING
SN 1049-8001
YR 2020
FD 2020-09
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/23905
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/23905
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 14-nov-2026