Monday, May 26, 2008 - 2:00 PM
68

Midterm effects of a wildfire in a mediterranean creek: Fire vs. seasonal drought

Iraima Verkaik1, Mireia Vila-Escalé1, Maria Rieradevall1, and Narcís Prat2. (1) Departament d'Ecologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal, 645, 5č planta, Barcelona, 08028, Spain, (2) Ecologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avinguda Diagonal, 645, Barcelona, 08850, Spain

The knowledge of the effects of the wildfires on aquatic Mediterranean ecosystems is reduced; even though the fire is an important and recurrent disturbance factor. After a wildfire in 2003 affecting several creeks in Sant Llorenç Natural Park (NE Spain), nine sites were established and annually sampled to evaluate the expected effects and to monitor the biota recovering. Here we present results on the mid-term effects of the wildfire on the macroinvertebrate assemblages. Two months after the wildfire the number of macroinvertebrate families was significantly lower compared to the unburnt creeks (19 vs. 25). Important alterations of chemical parameters did not last long because of floods after the wildfire. Through the next 4 years the number of macroinvertebrate families did not show differences between the burnt and the unburnt creeks. A severe seasonal drought endured during the year 2005 and caused the lowest number of families found in all the sampling period. Our results suggest that the fire could increase the effect of other disturbances as seasonal drought; and show the high resilience of the Mediterranean communities to disturbances.


Web Page: fire, mediterranean, seasonal drought

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