Climatic controls on ecosystem resilience: Postfire regeneration in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa.

ABSTRACT: Conservation of biodiversity and natural resources in a changing climate requires understanding what controls ecosystem resilience to disturbance. This understanding is especially important in the fire-prone Mediterranean systems of the world. The fire frequency in these systems is sensitive to climate, and recent climate change has resulted in more frequent fires over the last few decades. However, the sensitivity of postfire recovery and biomass/fuel load accumulation to climate is less well understood than fire frequency despite its importance in driving the fire regime. In this study, we develop a hierarchical statistical framework to model postfire ecosystem recovery using satellite-derived observations of vegetation as a function of stand age, topography, and climate. In the Cape Flo

SUBMITTER: Wilson AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4517208 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature