Description:
Changes in plant communities, litter and soil were simultaneously studied for two years after prescribed winter burning, scrub clearing and wild fire in French Mediterranean forests. Prescribed fires did not fundamentally change community structure, understorey specific composition and soil microclimate, which contrasts with heavy consequences observed after wild fire on the same ecosystem components. Yet, consequences on soil microclimate, soil arthropods and recovery of the understorey were slightly different after burning or clearing. In particular, grasses were generally more depressed and shrub vegetation recovered faster after burning than after clearing.