# Ecological Resilience of Restored Mediterranean‐Climate Woodlands to Experimental Fire

## TL;DR

This study examines how well restored Banksia woodlands in Western Australia recover from experimental fires, finding that their resilience is incomplete and varies among plant types.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a multi-faceted approach to assess ecological resilience in restored fire-prone ecosystems using a range of descriptors and reference data.

## Key findings

- Restoration age, fire impact, and soil conditions had little effect on plant regeneration and survival in restored Banksia woodlands.
- Resprouters showed poor resilience, with significant decreases in diversity and richness after fire in restored sites.
- Reference data and multiple descriptors are essential for understanding post-fire responses in restored ecosystems.

## Abstract

The ability of restored sites to recover from subsequent disturbances is a key component of restoration success. Resilience is achieved when a restored site returns to its pre‐disturbance state, rather than shifts to a different one. In restored fire‐prone ecosystems, the drivers of post‐fire plant responses and resilience of plant assemblages to fire are underexplored. Exploration of these responses is used to predict and measure the resilience of restored ecosystems to disturbance, including whether the disturbance response was desirable or not. We implemented fine‐scale experimental fires in a post‐mining restoration chronosequence 14–27 years of age in Banksia woodlands, Western Australia. We sought to understand the effects of restoration age, fire impact, and soil conditions on post‐fire regeneration and survival of restored Banksia woodland plant assemblages. To assess early‐stage resilience to fire, we calculated four descriptors of ecosystem state: plant species density, species diversity, rarefied richness and functional redundancy, and compared how these changed following fire across the restoration ages and in comparison to nearby reference Banksia woodland. Ordinations and indicator species analyses were used to compare restored and reference sites. In restoration sites, restoration age, fire impact and soil conditions had little effect on plant regeneration and survival. Changes in diversity, rarefied richness and functional redundancy pre‐ to post‐fire in restored sites were typically similar to or less than that observed in reference sites. Broadly, our findings demonstrate the incomplete resilience of restored Banksia woodland to fire. Resprouters typically demonstrated poor resilience, through significant decreases in diversity and rarefied richness following fire in restored sites. They were under‐represented in restored Banksia woodlands, so further investigations into the establishment of resprouters in restored environments are required. Our findings also highlight the importance of utilising reference data and a broad range of descriptors to fully understand responses of restored plant assemblages to fire.

Resilience of restored Banksia woodlands to fire is assessed using a multi‐faceted approach through investigating the drivers of post‐fire responses, and early‐stage reislience to fire. Findings differ among approaches, highlighing the need for a range of analyses to be used when assessing ecological resilience.