Forests are vital for biodiversity, carbon storage and ecosystem services, but can be potentially threatened by fires. Given the significance of forests and fire in a changing climate, research into the long‐term effects of fire on forests plays an important role in understanding the global carbon cycle by the forests functioning as a large terrestrial carbon sink or source. In this study, we used aerial photography from 1975 and 2013 to count the change in the number of trees in 560 dry sclerophyll plots (40 × 40m) in the Blue Mountains of Australia. We analysed the relationship between the number of fires and severe fires in that period on the change in numbers of trees. We found that the average response was an increase of 1 tree per plot over 38 years. The number of fires had a small positive effect on tree numbers; plots with 2 or 3 severe fires had 1 and 2 extra trees, respectively, than those without fire. One exception was a severe fire in 2001 that did not show this positive effect, probably because it corresponded with extensive drought. Our findings suggest that number of forest canopy trees is resilient to the number of fires and number of severe fires.

中文翻译：

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38年野火对澳大利亚蓝山山脉树木密度的影响

森林对于生物多样性，碳储存和生态系统服务至关重要，但可能会受到火灾的威胁。考虑到森林和火在不断变化的气候中的重要性，对于森林对大火的长期影响的研究在理解全球碳循环方面发挥着重要作用，因为森林起着巨大的陆地碳汇或碳源的作用。在这项研究中，我们使用了1975年和2013年的航空摄影技术来计算澳大利亚蓝山山脉560个干燥硬叶植物地块（40×40m）中树木的数量变化。我们分析了该时期火灾次数与严重火灾之间树木数量变化的关系。我们发现在38年中，平均响应是每块地增加1棵树。火灾的数量对树木的数量有较小的积极影响；与没有火灾的土地相比，发生2或3次严重火灾的地块分别多了1棵和2棵树木。一个例外是2001年的一场大火没有显示出这种积极的作用，可能是因为它对应于大范围的干旱。我们的发现表明，林冠树的数量对火灾和严重火灾的数量具有弹性。