Climatic niche position determines post-fire resilience in Mediterranean forests
Data files
Feb 02, 2026 version files 4.96 MB
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centroid_distances_CATALUNYA_10years.csv
94.82 KB
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centroid_distances_CATALUNYA_postfire.csv
94.35 KB
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centroid_distances_CATALUNYA_prefire.csv
94.69 KB
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centroid_distances_MURCIA_10years.csv
16.02 KB
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centroid_distances_MURCIA_postfire.csv
16.04 KB
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centroid_distances_MURCIA_prefire.csv
16.03 KB
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climatic_niche_edges.R
24.87 KB
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edges_10y_pinhal.csv
41.48 KB
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edges_10y_pinnig.csv
32.43 KB
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edges_post_pinhal.csv
41.44 KB
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edges_post_pinnig.csv
32.14 KB
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edges_pre_pinhal.csv
41.54 KB
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edges_pre_pinnig.csv
32.39 KB
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index_pinhalCAT.csv
7.29 KB
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index_pinhalMUR.csv
5.55 KB
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index_pinnigCAT.csv
10.25 KB
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metadata.xlsx
17.49 KB
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perc_5_df.csv
4.27 MB
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pinhalCAT_variables.csv
11.25 KB
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pinhalMUR_variables.csv
8.97 KB
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pinnigCAT_variables.csv
20.93 KB
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README.md
12.01 KB
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resilience_indices.R
1.77 KB
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RT_distance_pinhalCAT.csv
3.42 KB
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RT_distance_pinhalMUR.csv
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RT_distance_pinnigCAT.csv
4.78 KB
Abstract
Fires are a common and significant disturbance in Mediterranean forest ecosystems, with a prominent role in their dynamics. The increased frequency, intensity, and extent of fires due to climate change are, however, expected to exceed forests resilience capacity. It is still unknown how resilience capacity changes across species’ biogeographical ranges in relation to pre- and post-fire environmental variability. We analyzed the resilience of Mediterranean pinewoods (Pinus halepensis and P. nigra) to fire in the Eastern Iberian Peninsula and considered the influence of pre- and post-fire climate conditions typified through the species’ climate niche. To assess forest resilience, we applied the Ecological Dynamic Regime (EDR) framework, a methodological approach to quantify the deviation of disturbed trajectories from their dynamic regimes using three indices: amplitude, recovery, and net change. Then, we evaluated how fire characteristics (severity), site attributes (exposure, rockiness), and deviations in the distance to the niche core and edge of the burned populations (centrality-marginality gradient) modulate their resilience to fire. Over 50% of the burned plots exhibited large net change from their dynamic regimes in the mid-term, denoting poor resilience regardless of the species regenerative strategy, and transitioned to shrublands or a different forest type after the fire. Recovery and net change exhibited differences between the two studied species: forests dominated by P. halepensis were overall more resilient to fire across the study range, especially in moist sites, while burned P. nigra forests showed poor recovery and large net changes after fire. For both species, forests location within the climatic niche before and after fire significantly explained post-fire resilience. In general, forests near their climatic niche core showed higher resilience compared to those close to the dry edge of the niche. Synthesis: Our study reveals that post-fire forest resilience depends not only on fire severity and fire characteristics but also on the climatic niche position of the forests. As climate warms and the frequency and intensity of fires increase, forest species will be pushed towards the dry edge of their climatic niches, likely increasing their vulnerability.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.np5hqc085
Description of the data and file structure
This dataset contains the data and code required to replicate analyses in Climatic niche position determines post-fire resilience in Mediterranean forests (Codina et al. 2026). We analyzed the resilience of Mediterranean pinewoods (Pinus halepensis and P. nigra) to fire in the Eastern Iberian Peninsula and considered the influence of pre- and post-fire climate conditions typified through the species’ climate niche. To assess forest resilience, we applied the Ecological Dynamic Regime (EDR) framework, a methodological approach to quantify the deviation of disturbed trajectories from their dynamic regimes using three indices: amplitude, recovery, and net change. Then, we evaluated how fire characteristics (severity), site attributes (exposure, rockiness), and deviations in the distance to the niche core and edge of the burned populations (centrality-marginality gradient) modulate their resilience to fire.
Files and variables
File: climatic_niche_edges.R
Description: R script used to characterize species climatic niche edges in the PCA space and calculate distances of plot-level observations.
File: metadata.xlsx
Description: Metadata file providing variable definitions, units, and notes for all datasets included in the repository.
File: resilience_indices.R
Description: R script used to compute forest resilience indices (Amplitude, Recovery, Net Change) based on deviations from representative successional trajectories within the Ecological Dynamic Regimes (EDR) framework.
File: centroid_distances_CATALUNYA_10years.csv
Description: Plot-level climatic niche positions and distances to species climatic niche centroids and modes for Catalonia, calculated using climate data averaged over the 10-year pre-fire period.
Variables
- X: Row index.
- CODI: Plot identifier.
- species: Scientific name of the species.
- value: BA of the species in the plot.
- Axis1: Position along PCA axes of the climatic niche space.
- Axis2: Position along PCA axes of the climatic niche space.
- Axis3: Position along PCA axes of the climatic niche space.
- Axis4: Position along PCA axes of the climatic niche space.
- Axis5: Position along PCA axes of the climatic niche space.
- centroid_pca1: Species climatic niche centroid coordinate along PCA axis 1.
- centroid_pca2: Species climatic niche centroid coordinate along PCA axis 2.
- mode_pca1: Species climatic niche mode coordinate along PCA axis 1.
- mode_pca2: Species climatic niche mode coordinate along PCA axis 2.
- centroid_dist2d: Euclidean distance from the plot to the species climatic niche centroid in PCA1–PCA2 space.
- mode_dist2d: Euclidean distance from the plot to the species climatic niche mode in PCA1–PCA2 space.
File: centroid_distances_CATALUNYA_postfire.csv
Description: Plot-level climatic niche positions and distances to species climatic niche centroids and modes for Catalonia, calculated using climate data averaged over the 3 years post-fire period.
Variables: same as centroid_distances_CATALUNYA_10years.csv.
File: centroid_distances_MURCIA_10years.csv
Description: Plot-level climatic niche positions and distances to species climatic niche centroids and modes for Murcia, calculated using climate data averaged over the 10-year pre-fire period.
Variables: same as centroid_distances_CATALUNYA_10years.csv.
File: centroid_distances_CATALUNYA_prefire.csv
Description: Plot-level climatic niche positions and distances to species climatic niche centroids and modes for Catalonia, calculated using climate data averaged over the 3-year pre-fire period.
Variables: same as centroid_distances_CATALUNYA_10years.csv.
File: centroid_distances_MURCIA_postfire.csv
Description: Plot-level climatic niche positions and distances to species climatic niche centroids and modes for Murcia, calculated using climate data averaged over the 3-year post-fire period.
Variables: same as centroid_distances_CATALUNYA_10years.csv.
File: centroid_distances_MURCIA_prefire.csv
Description: Plot-level climatic niche positions and distances to species climatic niche centroids and modes for Murcia, calculated using climate data averaged over the 3-year pre-fire period.
Variables: same as centroid_distances_CATALUNYA_10years.csv.
File: perc_5_df.csv
Description: Coordinates defining the outer boundary (5th percentile) of species climatic niches in PCA space, used to characterize climatic niche edges.
Variables
- species: Scientific name of the species.
- pca1: PCA axis 1 coordinate of the niche edge.
- pca2: PCA axis 2 coordinate of the niche edge.
File: pinhalCAT_variables.csv
Description: Plot-level resilience indices and environmental variables for Pinus halepensis forests in Catalonia.
Variables
- PLOT: Plot identifier.
- Index1: Amplitude.
- Index2: Recovery.
- Index3: Net change.
- distance: Distance to the nearest unburned tree patch (m).
- rdnbr: Relativized differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (fire severity).
- cwdm_prefire: Tree community–weighted distance to the climatic edge (pre-fire).
- cwdc_prefire: Tree community–weighted distance to the climatic core (pre-fire).
- cwdm_postfire: Tree community–weighted distance to the climatic edge (post-fire).
- cwdc_postfire: Tree community–weighted distance to the climatic core (post-fire).
- cwdm_10years: Tree community–weighted distance to the climatic edge (10-year pre-fire).
- cwdc_10years: Tree community–weighted distance to the climatic core (10-year pre-fire).
- srad: Mean annual solar radiation.
- rocosid: Rockiness index.
File: pinhalMUR_variables.csv
Description: Plot-level resilience indices and environmental variables for Pinus halepensis forests in Murcia.
Variables: same as pinhalCAT_variables.csv.
File: pinnigCAT_variables.csv
Description: Plot-level resilience indices and environmental covariates for Pinus nigra forests in Catalonia.
Variables: same as pinhalCAT_variables.csv.
File: RT_distance_pinhalCAT.csv
Description: Distances from plot states to the representative successional trajectory for Pinus halepensis forests in Catalonia.
Variables
- PLOT: Plot identifier.
- X1: Distance from the pre-disturbance state to the representative trajectory
- X2: Distance from the immediate post-disturbance state to the representative trajectory.
- X3: Distance from the later post-disturbance state to the representative trajectory.
File: RT_distance_pinhalMUR.csv
Description: Distances from plot states to the representative successional trajectory for Pinus halepensis forests in Murcia.
Variables: same as RT_distance_pinhalCAT.csv.
File: RT_distance_pinnigCAT.csv
Description: Distances from plot states to the representative successional trajectory for Pinus nigra forests in Catalonia.
Variables: same as RT_distance_pinhalCAT.csv.
File: index_pinhalCAT.csv
Description: Resilience indices derived from trajectory distances for Pinus halepensis forests in Catalonia.
Variables
- PLOT: Plot identifier.
- X1: Distance from the pre-disturbance state to the representative trajectory
- X2: Distance from the immediate post-disturbance state to the representative trajectory.
- X3: Distance from the later post-disturbance state to the representative trajectory.
- Index1: Amplitude.
- Index2: Recovery.
- Index3: Net Change.
File: index_pinhalMUR.csv
Description: Resilience indices derived from trajectory distances for Pinus halepensis forests in Murcia.
Variables: same as index_pinhalCAT.csv.
File: index_pinnigCAT.csv
Description: Resilience indices derived from trajectory distances for Pinus nigra forests in Catalonia.
Variables: same as index_pinhalCAT.csv.
File: edges_10y_pinhal.csv
Description: Plot-level climatic niche positions and classification relative to climatic niche edges for Pinus halepensis using 10-year pre-fire climate.
Variables
- CODI: Plot identifier.
- species: Scientific name.
- value: Observed relative abundance (or cover).
- Axis1: PCA climatic niche coordinates.
- Axis2: PCA climatic niche coordinates.
- Axis3: PCA climatic niche coordinates.
- Axis4: PCA climatic niche coordinates.
- Axis5: PCA climatic niche coordinates.
- centroid_pca1: Species niche centroid coordinates.
- centroid_pca2: Species niche centroid coordinates.
- mode_pca1: Species niche mode coordinates.
- mode_pca2: Species niche mode coordinates.
- centroid_dist2d: Distances to centroid.
- mode_dist2d: Distances to mode.
- quadrant: Climatic niche closer edge position category.
File: edges_10y_pinnig.csv
Description: Same as above for Pinus nigra.
Variables: same as edges_10y_pinhal.csv.
File: edges_post_pinhal.csv
Description: Same as edges_10y_pinhal.csv, using post-fire climatic conditions.
Variables: same as edges_10y_pinhal.csv.
File: edges_pre_pinnig.csv
Description: Same as edges_10y_pinhal.csv, using pre-fire climatic conditions for Pinus nigra.
Variables: same as edges_10y_pinhal.csv.
File: edges_pre_pinhal.csv
Description: Same as edges_10y_pinhal.csv, using pre-fire climatic conditions for Pinus halepensis.
Variables: same as edges_10y_pinhal.csv.
File: edges_post_pinnig.csv
Description: Same as edges_10y_pinhal.csv, using post-fire climatic conditions for Pinus nigra.
Variables: same as edges_10y_pinhal.csv.
Code/software
All data files included in this repository can be viewed and manipulated using free and open-source software.
Software required
The analyses and data processing were performed using R (version ≥ 4.2.0), an open-source statistical computing environment (R Core Team).
R is freely available at: https://www.r-project.org/
The CSV and XLSX files can be opened with any spreadsheet software (e.g. LibreOffice Calc, Microsoft Excel), although R is recommended to ensure correct handling of numeric formats and reproducibility.
R packages used
The following R packages were used to run the scripts included in this repository:
- Base and data manipulation
dplyrreadrstringijanitor
- Multivariate analysis and ordination
ade4veganfactoextra
- Climatic niche characterization
ksecospat
- Spatial and raster data handling
rastersprgdalrgeosmaptoolsrasterVis
- Nearest-neighbour distance calculations
RANN
- Plotting and visualization
ggplot2RColorBrewerplot3Drglmapsggmap
All packages are available from CRAN and can be installed using install.packages().
Scripts included
climatic_niche_edges.R
R script used to characterize species climatic niche edges in the PCA space and calculate distances of plot-level observations.resilience_indices.R
R script used to compute forest resilience indices (Amplitude, Recovery, Net Change) based on deviations from representative successional trajectories within the Ecological Dynamic Regimes (EDR) framework.
Access information
Our data was derived from:
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National Forest Inventory data (IFN2, IFN3 & IFN4): https://www.miteco.gob.es/ca/biodiversidad/temas/inventarios-nacionales/inventario-forestal-nacional.html
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Climate data (CHELSA): https://www.chelsa-climate.org/datasets