It is important to note that recovery in untreated burned plots, at the early stages, seemed to be the fastest. The results of the study illuminated the effects of different management regimes on the post-fire recovery of the ecosystem in a short time range. As the elapse of time after fire was found to be the major factor affecting the recovery, our study was extended for another period of three years. Since the expected rate of changes slows with time, plots in similar pine forest, that were burned eleven, twenty, and fifty years ago were selected for monitoring. The same environmental and biotic components as for the 1989 fire are being studied at present.
Preliminary results show that biodiversity in all groups decreases with time.
It seems as if a period of about half a century is required for a full recovery of this type of ecosystem. Recovery of vegetation in a natural east Mediterranean pine forest on Mount Carmel, Israel as affected by management strategies. Forest Ecology and Management 75, 17-26. Ne'eman, G., H.Lahav, and I.Izhaki. Commission of the European Communities, Brussel-Luxembourg, pp.