Recovery of canopy and understory vegetation following wildfires in the forests of Chiquitania, Santa Cruz, Bolivia
Keywords:
Chiquitania, forest recovery, canopy openness, life forms, regeneration, wildfireAbstract
The ability to recover after a disturbance is a significant topic for understanding the resilience of tropical ecosystems. The aim of this study was to analyze the recovery capacity of the canopy and understory in two types of forests (semi-deciduous dry forest and sub-humid forest) following six months after the fires that occurred in 2019 and 2020. To assess the recovery capacity of the canopy, burned and unburned areas were compared, measuring the percentage of openness, direct light, indirect light, and leaf area index through photographs taken with a camera and subsequently analyzed using Gap Analyzer software. The recovery capacity of the understory was evaluated by measuring the coverage percentage of different life forms, in addition to including the percentage of exposed soil. The results indicate that the parameters measured in the canopy were similar in both burned and unburned forests. Likewise, the coverage of various life forms is comparable in burned and unburned areas, although there is a slight tendency for more coverage of vines and grasses in the burned areas. In conclusion, the recovery capacity of both the canopy and understory was rapid following the disturbance caused by fire.
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References
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