Soil Arthropod Communities and Population Dynamics Following Wildfires in Pine Forests of the Mediterranean Basin: A Review

Abstract

The Mediterranean pine species of low-and mid-elevations, namely Pinus halepensis Mill., Pinus brutia Ten., Pinus pinea L. and Pinus pinaster Ait., constitute an important component of forest vegetation in Mediterranean-type ecosystems around the Mediterranean basin. These forests are strongly influenced by wildfires, which have occurred for millennia in Mediterranean regions. In burned Mediterranean pine forests, the community composition and the population dynamics of soil arthropods are determined by their life history traits and the wildfire regime. In these ecosystems, the effects of fire regime on soil arthropods at the taxonomical level of order are similar to those recorded in other Mediterranean-type ecosystems. Severe wildfires cause a simplification of the structure of the soil community due to both the immediate mortality of soil animals and the structural alteration of the soil organic horizon. Frequent wildfires influence the soil arthropods indirectly, preventing the recovery processes of the vegetation and, consequently, of the organic horizon. Wildfires do not influence the phenology of soil arthropods, at least at the taxonomical level of order, and the seasonality of the Mediterranean climate remains the principal environmental factor controlling the dynamics of soil arthropod populations. The recovery patterns of soil arthropods vary in relation to species, fire regime, and the environmental characteristics of the forest under consideration.

Keywords:

• Mediterranean ecosystems
• pine forests
• fire regime
• soil arthropods
• post-fire recovery