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Cited by 27Fire effects on ecosystemsSeedling growth and survival studiesEcology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

Why forest fails to recover after repeated wildfires in Amazonian floodplains? Experimental evidence on tree recruitment limitation

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Flores, Bernardo M., Holmgren, Milena·2021·Journal of Ecology
DOI 10.1111/1365-2745.13769
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Abstract

Amazonian floodplain forests are particularly vulnerable to wildfires that spread during extreme droughts, causing large‐scale forest dieback. After a second wildfire, these forests persist trapped with low tree cover and empty seed banks, yet the mechanisms that could explain this arrested succession remain unknown. Here we use a 4‐year field experiment to test whether tree recruitment failures in burnt floodplain forests are caused by environmental filtering, limiting early seedling emergence and establishment. We sowed seeds and planted seedlings of six floodplain trees with contrasting life strategies, and tested the roles of environmental filters by comparing tree seedling performances under different habitats (i.e. unburned forest, forest edge with burnt site, forest burnt once and forest burnt twice), and by manipulating soil root mats and herbaceous cover. Our results show that seedling emergence was around 15% across all habitats. In general, seedlings performed best in burnt forests. Seedling growth was highest in forests burnt once, possibly because of high nutrient availability after fire. In forests burnt twice, tree seedlings grew relatively less, as nutrients become limiting due to flood erosion; yet, seedlings survived longer, possibly because of lower competition with sparse, naturally recruiting trees. We found similar patterns for seedlings that emerged in the field from sowed seeds. Synthesis . Our experimental evidence suggests that environmental filtering related to soil nutrient limitations may slow down forest recovery after repeated wildfires. Yet, our findings showing that floodplain trees are able to germinate from seeds and establish successfully in twice burnt forests suggest that seed limitation may be the reason why forest recovery fails persistently. A corollary to the problem is that repeatedly burnt forests seem to be trapped by a self‐reinforcing feedback, in which low tree cover reduces seed dispersal and consequently seed availability, keeping tree cover low. Overall, our findings indicate that active restoration initiatives based on seeding native tree species may help accelerating the recovery of degraded floodplain forests after repeated wildfires.

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  • In the white-sand savanna trajectory, the main feedbacks result from interactions among low tree cover and fire, soil erosion, and seed limitation.

    “In the ‘white-sand savanna’ trajectory, the main feedbacks result from interactions among low tree cover and fire, soil erosion, and seed limitation106.”

    From Critical transitions in the Amazon forest system (2024) · cites this paper as [106]

    The Conclusions (page unavailable) describe repeatedly burnt floodplain forests slowly transitioning toward a white-sand savanna state. Section 4.5 and Figure 5 describe feedbacks involving seed limitation, fire and flood erosion, but present the erosion and fire feedbacks as expected or possible rather than established as the trajectory’s main feedbacks. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Flores, B. M., & Holmgren, M.
Affiliations
  • Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (BR)
  • Wageningen University & Research (NL)
Corresponding author
  • Flores, Bernardo M.
  • Holmgren, Milena
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Ecology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2021-09-26
Volume
109
Issue
10
Pages
3473-3486
ISSN
  • 0022-0477 (ISSN-L)
  • 1365-2745
DOI
10.1111/1365-2745.13769
OpenAlex
W3194219385
Cited by
27
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 3
FWCI
1.74
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Ecology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
  • Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Amazonas
  • Wageningen University and Research Centre
  • Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
  • Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Seedling growth and survival studies
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
Keywords
Amazonian floodplain forests, forest recovery, tree recruitment, environmental filtering, seedling establishment, seed limitation, soil nutrient limitation, flood erosion, forest decline, drought, self-reinforcing feedback, forest restoration, seed dispersal, seedling competition

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