Monday, May 26, 2008 - 1:45 PM
67

Succession of chironomidae in a mediterranean stream after a wildfire

Maria Rieradevall, Vanessa Slade, Mireia Vila-Escalé, Iraima Verkaik, and Narcís Prat. Departament d'Ecologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Diagonal, 645, 5č planta, Barcelona, 08028, Spain

Streams in Mediterranean-climate regions are subjected to severe disturbance events as drying and flooding but also to wildfires. The aim of this work was to study the reestablishment and characterization of the Chironomidae community after a wildfire and to evaluate the succession of the community. Prefire samples were available and indicated no significant differences between burnt and unburnt creeks. In a detailed study of two years of duration taking samples monthly or biweekly in a small temporary creek (Gallifa stream) the Chironomidae quickly recolonized the stream after only 45 days. During the first year the number of genera of the burnt creek experienced high oscillations (between 5 and 15), represented mostly by Orthocladiinae and Diamesinae subfamilies (90%). After a year, with the appearance of the Tanypodinae subfamily, the number of genera (>20) was similar to the prefire conditions but after 2 years the community composition still had some differences compared to the prefire community. On the other hand, the unburnt creek was more stable during the study.


Web Page: Chironomidae, fire, succession

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