Decomposers and the fire cycle in a phryganic (East Mediterranean) ecosystem.

Dehydrogenase activity, cellulose decomposition, nitrification, and CO2 release were measured for 2 years to estimate the effects of a wildfire over a phryganic ecosystem. In decomposers' subsystem we found that fire mainly affected the nitrification process during the whole period, and soil respiration for the second post-fire year, when compared with the control site. Our data suggest that after 3-4 months the activity of microbial decomposers is almost the same at the two sites, suggesting that fire is not a catastrophic event, but a simple perturbation common to Mediterranean-type ecosystems.