A study conducted by the Scientific Research High Council (CSIC), Effects of fire on ant and bee communities in Mediterranean pine forests from Andalusia. The short- and long-term consequences are that forest fires in the Mediterranean are not as negative as previously thought, at least in coniferous systems. It can have some positive effects, especially in ant communities.. The study was published in the scientific journal Total Environmental Science.
“We live in a time when the natural regime of wildfires is being replaced by an anthropic regime of human origin, characterized by more severe, far-reaching and more intense and frequent fires,” explains José Manuel Vidal Cordero. . , a pre-doctoral fellow at the Doñana Biological Station (EBD) and first author of the study. Therefore, it is vital to know how organisms respond to this current regime of wildfires, according to the researcher.
More ants and bees in burned areas
During this study, two different groups of animals, ants and bees, were used, and also how various factors such as the richness and abundance of species diversity respond to fire or the functional characteristics offered by the species, such as “daily life”, the type of nesting or fertility that a colony of a particular species can accommodate. number of queens. The study was carried out in 35 pine forests affected by forest fires scattered throughout Andalusia. from recently burned areas to areas where fires broke out more than 40 years ago.
One of the questions the team wanted to answer was whether the fire simplified the complexity of the ecosystem and reduced species diversity, or, on the contrary, allowed it to create new niches. The data seemed to confirm the second: Ant and bee species richness increased in fire-affected areas compared to unburned areas.. “These results were independent of the time since the fire, indicating that these effects can persist for a long time,” explains Vidal Cordero.
In addition, six of the thirteen functional characteristics of the ants tested differed between burned and unburned areas. For example, Ant communities were observed in the burned areas, with more species nesting in the soil and stricter diurnal species. These differences in species traits decreased as the time passed over the fire increased. But others continued over time. In the burned areas, more species were detected, presenting greater morphological diversity (polymorphy) in the worker caste, as well as more species with only one queen in their colony (monogynous), regardless of elapsed time.
This study opens the door to the exploration of other management options, as well as other additional characteristics of fires that may affect biodiversity recovery and that were not yet considered in this study, such as the intensity or severity of fires. Areas burned after fire
Fire that supports the wealth and diversity of ants and bees
“Our study shows that fire has both short-term and longer-term effects on ant and bee communities. While some functional properties change only in the short term, species richness and other functional features are preserved for years after a fire”, sums up the researcher.
According to the results obtained from this study; Rejuvenation of coniferous systems should always be considered as a support for the richness and diversity of these species within a forest planning.. “It would be helpful to develop an effective long-term monitoring system to detect changes in ecosystems and conduct recovery assessments after wildfires,” he concludes.
Reference work: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723027535?via%3Dihub
……
To contact From the environment department: [email protected]