Post‑fire treatments in Mediterranean forests: a review for enhancing restoration strategies

Abstract

Forests act as carbon sinks and are crucial for mitigating climate change. However, the increasing magnitude, duration, and intensity of fires threaten these ecosystems and their capacity to provide essential services, especially in the Mediterranean region. In this context, forest restoration is essential to reversing ecosystem degradation and preventing the loss of these services. A systematic review of articles on post-fire treatments in the Mediterranean region published between 1991 and 2023 in the Web of Science was conducted to evaluate the most common and effective treatments for enhancing the restoration of forest ecosystems after fires. A total of 515 articles were initially screened for relevance to post-fire treatments, resulting in the selection and evaluation of 108 studies. Ninety percent of the studies focused on natural fires, 75% were conducted in Spain, and 77% were active restorations.

Results Pinus halepensis, P. pinaster, and P. brutia were the most frequently burned species in the restoration studies analyzed. Most of the restoration efforts focused on promoting species regeneration and protecting soil from erosion, mainly through applying mulch. In fact, 74% of the studies considered restoring the burned area using the same species affected by the fire. The indicators used to evaluate the outcomes of the restoration activity revealed considerable heterogeneity, with nearly three-quarters of the studies focusing on physical and forest stand structure indicators. One of the main research gaps identified was the lack of long-term studies assessing the effectiveness of implemented strategies, as well as the need for more comprehensive approaches integrating both active and passive restoration initiatives. However, the temporal trend of publications related to this subject does not reflect the increase in fires observed in recent years in these areas.

Conclusion This review provides insights into post-fire restoration activities in the Mediterranean region over the past three decades and establishes a foundation for future research in other regions.

This research has been funded through the SUPERB H2020-LC-GD-2020 Project (Grant Agreement number 101036849), the REFORADAPT Project on the Compilation of Successful Forest Restoration and Adaptation Cases in Spain, supported by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, through the grant program for projects that contribute to the implementation of the Spanish National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (2021–2030), and the FIRE-ADAPT project, funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Staff Exchanges 2021 scheme within the Horizon Europe funding program from the European Union (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-SE) under Grant Agreement No. 101086416.