## 1 Introduction  
Large wildfires are a common occurrence in Mediterranean forests. However, within the framework of global climate change, interactions between climate and fire may accentuate the effects, or at least, alter the stress on ecosystems [1, 2]. Prescribed burning (PB) is an active forest management tool that can reduce the intensity and severity of forest fires, when it is strategically applied in both time and space [3, 4, 5]. Beyond fire prevention, PB may also be beneficial for the vitality of ecosystems, recovering the distribution of the most balanced vegetation layers and occasionally improving biodiversity [6, 7, 8]. Nonetheless, PB activity in southern Europe remains local in scope and the area treated is quite modest [9], although in recent years an effort is being made to include PB in forest management plans. In addition, forest managers often do not have access to accurate and research-supported information about the potential effects of prescribed burning on different forest ecosystems. This may lead to the application of unsuitable prescribed fire regimes that can cause significant damage or mortality to tree species and indirectly alter biotic and abiotic processes [10]. The responses of plant function to fire activity are complex and can vary widely [11]. Thus, fire-surviving trees can be compromised in their physiological functionality, show reduced growth and be more likely to succumb to delayed death (e.g., [12; 13; 14]). Conversely, the injured trees may also benefit in the short- and mid-term from reduced competition [15; 16; 17]. However, few studies have modelled individual growth responses as a function of tree and stand characteristics including fire intensity (e.g., residence time above a lethal temperature) and severity variables (e.g., scorch height or total amount of litterfall after fire treatment) [16; 17]. In the Cuenca Mountains (Iberian System), prescribed burning is usually carried out in the early season (spring) and late season (early autumn). Although the burn season can be easily controlled in PB treatments, little is known about how the burn season affects post-fire tree growth [17]. Some studies have shown that early season burning at the beginning of the annual growth period is more likely to cause heat damage [18; 19]. Conversely, late season burning is likely to be of greater intensity because the fuels are drier [20], which may exacerbate tree mortality [21]. Other specific stand and individual tree characteristics are widely recognized sources of variability in relation to tree growth (e.g., density, age, phenotypic plasticity, genetic variability and interactions with site factors) [22; 23; 24] and should be considered in tree growth studies. The present study involved a mixed stand of _Pinus nigra_ Arn. ssp. _salzmannii_ (Spanish black pine) and _Pinus pinaster_ Ait. (maritime pine) and a pure stand of _P. nigra_. The Cuenca Mountains are representative of areas where the _P. nigra-P. pinaster_ ecotone generates stable stands with ecosystem services of high ecological value. This species richness has previously been associated with stand-level stability in the face of disturbance [25; 26; 27], which may be explained by the aggregate properties of species. Thus, the exploration of the resilience of pure and mixed stands to perturbations such as prescribed burning is essential to establish recommendations for management and fire prevention strategies in this area. In addition, these species have been recognized to be adapted to surface fires with the following different characteristics: thick bark, high crown base height, self-pruning strategy and open structure in the case of _Pinus nigra_ (e.g., [28; 29; 30]) or serotine cones and thick bark, large buds shielded by scales and by long needles in the case of _Pinus pinaster_ (e.g., [28; 31; 32]). Moreover, in order to achieve the management objectives of PB, the burn window must be applied to reach the desired outcomes regarding fire behavior and the associated impacts.