Surface wildfire in temperate forests of the Golestan Province, northern Iran

ABSTRACT: To understand the effect of wildfire on quantity and quality characteristics in the Loveh forest (Golestan Province), a systematic sampling has been designed in a network of 100×100m with circle plots of each 0.1 ha for burned (B) and unburned areas (UB) with 30 sample plots. This study focused on the impact of fire on forest structure and tree species quality in the Loveh forests in northern Iran. The result showed that in the early growth season after fire, trees per ha did not significantly changed. Plant cover decreased and there was a strong negative relationship between the diameter at breast height (DBH) and the percentage of dead trees in the burned area. Classification of burn intensity into 4 classes showed that among the 9 recorded species, in healthy, low burned, medium burned and high burned classʹs, aggregate percent of fire affected trees showed that hornbeam (52.4%) and chestnut leaved oak (33.78%) had the highest damage. Our results showed that fire led to high damage and killed many trees especially in low diameter classes in this forest. For the future of these stands, it is suggested to focus efforts on salvage and silvicultural practices, because these damaged trees are susceptible to diseases and pests.