Wildfire is often considered an ecological catastrophe that should be prevented in Canary Islands. However, it is of ecological significance and little is known about its effects on the Pinus canariensis forest stand. The study sites were reforested with P. canariensis during the 1940s and 1950s, but they have been poorly managed after that. The present study evaluates the effect of fire intensity on the understorey species composition three and ten years after fire. Data were recorded from two stands with three sites each one where three fire intensities were differentiated (control, surface and crown fire). We used multivariate analyses as they allow us to eliminate the variability generated by site or other abiotic variables and can show the fire intensity effect on the species composition.

Results/Conclusions

Data obtained three years after fire suggested that a regular occurrence of fire will favor the change of the pine stands to more natural forest. However the results ten years after fire showed a slowlier recover of understorey vegetation when fire was very intense.