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Resilience of the Miombo Woodland to Different Fire Frequencies in the LevasFlor Forest Concession, Central Mozambique
Sokoine Univ Agr, Coll Forestry Wildlife & Tourism, Reg Res Sch Forest Sci REFOREST, Morogoro POB 3009, Chuo Kikuu, Tanzania..
Eduardo Mondlane Univ, Fac Agron & Forest Engn, Dept Forest Engn, Av Julius Nyerere,Campus Univ Bldg 1, Maputo 3453, Mozambique..ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5369-5905
KTH, School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE), Urban Planning and Environment, Geoinformatics.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2882-850X
Sokoine Univ Agr, Coll Forestry Wildlife & Tourism, Reg Res Sch Forest Sci REFOREST, Morogoro POB 3009, Chuo Kikuu, Tanzania.;Univ Dar es Salaam, Coll Nat & Appl Sci, Dept Bot, POB 35060, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania..
2025 (English)In: Forests, E-ISSN 1999-4907, Vol. 16, no 1, article id 10Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Fires play a significant role in shaping the Miombo woodlands. Understanding how fire affects the Miombo region's resilience is crucial for ensuring its sustainability. This study evaluated plant composition and structure across different fire frequencies in the Miombo woodlands of the LevasFlor Forest Concession (LFC), central Mozambique. Fire frequency clusters-high (HFF), moderate (MFF), and low (LFF)-were identified using a 21-year remote-sensing dataset. In each cluster, 90 random sampling plots were established (30 per cluster). In each plot, the diameter at breast height (DBH) and total height of the saplings and trees were measured. Subplots were used to count and identify seedlings, herbs, climbers, and grasses. Plant species richness, evenness,-diversity, the importance value index (IVI), and similarity were computed to assess plant composition. For the structure, stem density, biomass, basal area, diameter, and height were assessed. A total of 124 plant species-including trees, saplings, seedlings, herbs, climbers, and grasses-were identified across the three clusters. The Bray-Curtis Dissimilarity Index, tested with an ANOSIM similarity test, revealed significant differences in plant species composition among clusters (p < 0.0003), with an overall average dissimilarity of 71.98%. In the HFF cluster, fire-tolerant species were among the five species with the highest IVI, while fire-sensitive species predominated in the LFF. Additionally, the Kruskal-Wallis test indicated significant differences in seedling stem density (p < 0.005) between the LFF and other clusters. However, overall, the composition and structure attributes suggested that current fire regime does not significantly compromise the plant species resilience of the Miombo woodlands in the LFC. Still, it is essential to concentrate management and conservation efforts on seedlings of some key Miombo species, such as Brachystegia spiciformis, whose ecology is particularly affected by fire.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI AG , 2025. Vol. 16, no 1, article id 10
Keywords [en]
plant composition, plant structure, wildfires, fire frequency, clusters
National Category
Forest Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-359981DOI: 10.3390/f16010010ISI: 001405799000001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85216008685OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-359981DiVA, id: diva2:1938219
Note

QC 20250217

Available from: 2025-02-17 Created: 2025-02-17 Last updated: 2025-02-25Bibliographically approved

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Shirvani, Zeinab

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CiteExportLink to record
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