Regeneration capability and economic losses after fire in Mediterranean forests

The impact of forest fire on three Mediterranean forest types: Pinus pinea, Pinus halepensis/brutia 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 o