Burn severity and land-use legacy influence bird abundance in the Atlantic-Mediterranean biogeographic transition.

Fire regimes in mountain landscapes of southern Europe have been shifting from their baselines due to rural abandonment and fire exclusion policies. Understanding the effects of fire on biodiversity is paramount to implement adequate management. Herein, we evaluated the relative role of burn severity and heterogeneity on bird abundance in an abandoned mountain range located in the biogeographic transition between the Eurosiberian and Mediterranean region (the Natural Park 'Baixa Limia-Serra do Xurés').

Effect of repeated soil heating at different temperatures on microbial activity in two burned soils.

The effect of fire severity and recurrence on the recovery of enzymatic activities (β-glucosidase, urease, acid phosphatase) and bacterial activity was monitored. Unburned and burned soil samples from soil affected by a high severity wildfire and by a low severity experimental fire were subjected in laboratory to a temperature gradient to simulate different fire severities. These samples were subjected to a second laboratory heat treatment to simulate the effect of recurrence.