Structure and organisation of a Quercus coccifera garrigue after fire

After fire, recolonization implies a process of structural and functional organisation to reach a new state of equilibrium with the environment. Vertical structuration can be analysed through the evolution of the total leaf area distribution in the vertical profile. The change through time in the vertical gradients of the leaf mean area and the stomatdal density and size, among other things, are useful too to interpret this process. Space occupation patterns can be analysed through the evolution of the foliage projective coverage and the species spatial dependence (regarded as contacts between pairs of species), considering a reticle covering the surface to be studied. A set of models may be useful to carry out this analysis. Changes in time of the basal area, density and stem diameter, and diametric classes distribution of stems are also useful to analyse and interpret the changes taking place after fire. Some theoretical problems in relation to these different approaches are discussed in this paper. Examples focusing on a Quercus coccifera garrigue chronosequence are presented to illustrate some remarkable features.
Sala Anna, Sabaté Santiago, Gracia Carlos. Structure and organisation of a Quercus coccifera garrigue after fire. In: Ecologia mediterranea, tome 13 n°4, 1987. Influence of fire on the stability of mediterranean forest ecosystems. Giens (France) 23-26/03/1987. pp. 99-110.