Forests dominated by serotinous tree species are usually generalized to follow an autosuccessional model of postfire recovery. However, recent studies have suggested that prefire conditions, topography, and idiosyncrasies of the fire disturbance can have notable effects on how such forests respond to fire. | Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry Turk J Agric For (2016) 40: 723-736 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article Early postfire vegetation recovery of Pinus brutia forests: effects of fire severity, prefire stand age, and aspect 1, 2 3 4,5 Ali KAVGACI *, Erdal ÖRTEL , Ivan TORRES , Hugh SAFFORD 1 Southwest Anatolia Forest Research Institute, Antalya, Turkey 2 Aegean Forest Research Institute, İzmir, Turkey 3 Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Biochemistry, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Toledo, Spain 4 US Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region, Vallejo, California, USA 5 Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, California, USA Received: Accepted/Published Online: Final Version: Abstract: Forests dominated by serotinous tree species are usually generalized to follow an autosuccessional model of postfire recovery. However, recent studies have suggested that prefire conditions, topography, and idiosyncrasies of the fire disturbance can have notable effects on how such forests respond to fire. We investigated the effects of fire severity, prefire stand age, and aspect (slope orientation) on the early postfire recovery of Pinus brutia forest. The study site was the area of 2008 Serik-Tasağıl Fire, one of the largest forest fires in Turkish recorded history. We sampled early postfire conditions at five sites having different conditions in terms of fire severity, prefire stand age, and aspect. Sampling was carried out for 5 years after fire. First year floristic composition was clearly different from the following years and floristic differentiation generally slowed by the fifth year. Plant species richness declined in young stands and mature stands experiencing crown fire, whereas it was more stable in mature stands experiencing surface and mixed fire. In mature stands, richness of
