## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Field Measurements of Vegetation Cover in Different Land Conditions  
All surveyed plant species of this study were typical of post-fire vegetation succession in the Mediterranean forest. These species are commonly found in open areas receiving high solar radiation and adapted to fire through different vegetative and reproductive mechanisms. In more detail, the floristic composition of the shrub and herbal layer in the surveyed area was not significantly altered by fire. In fact, the species that have repopulated the forest areas after fire belonged to the pre-existing populations. The number of species did not change, since after the fire, the species progressively regenerates, thanks to the adaption to new conditions of light, water and nutrients.  
The vegetation cover measured in the plots under the four land conditions was more extensive in the areas treated with LEB (vegetal cover of 84.5 \(\pm\) 4.5%) compared to CFD plots (76.9 \(\pm\) 5.6%). As expected, the extreme values were surveyed in UB (100%) and BNA (65.5 \(\pm\) 4.2%) (Figure 5). These differences were significant after one-way ANOVA (\(p\) < 0.05), except for LEB treatment (not significantly different from UB and CFD). According to fieldwork and forest regional managers, this change is mainly due to shrub regeneration and growth. The Mediterranean vegetation is highly adapted to wildfires and these ecosystems are able to respond to fire using resprout or seeding mechanisms. That change is attributed to the higher biomass of the scrub and herbal layer. As recently stated by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [52], fire does not threaten ecosystem health, since it is a necessary process and a natural disturbance that is beneficial for the functionality of a fire-adapted ecosystem in Mediterranean forests. As demonstrated by our results, following fire disturbance, Mediterranean forests can regenerate from seed banks stored in soils and basal resprouts.  
This means that, four years after the wildfire, the vegetation regeneration is far from covering the entire area, such as in the unburned zone. The implementation of post-fire treatments allows for a significantly faster recovery process, and LEBs are particularly effective. This higher regeneration compared to CFD-treated areas is somewhat expected, since the dead and burned material of which CFDs consist of is degrading, as well as incorporated more easily compared to the burned wood of LEBs [53]. Both post-fire management techniques are recognized to reduce runoff and erosion (by slowing flows of water and sediments) [14] and improve the physico-chemical properties of soils (increasing infiltration and water retention, and organic matter and nutrients), thus enhancing establishment and development of vegetation [12]. Some LEBs can trap up to 40% of sediments; moreover, this treatment is cheaper compared to other hillslope stabilization techniques [54]. CFDs are effective to reduce water and sediment flows in burned forest subject to machinery salvage logging [55]. Moreover, according to [PERSON] et al. [13], hillslope stabilization after wildfire is a physical barrier that avoids losses or reductions in soil organic matter and nutrients. At the same time, logs of CFDs and canopy residues of LEBs can change the microclimate and land conditions, as well as represent organic matter source after decomposition. This enhances the biological activity of soils [18]. Moreover, decreased evaporation, higher soil moisture, and soil organic matter accumulation upslope of LEB and CFD might lead to an increase in soil respiration and microbial activity, also enhancing nutrient availability after a burn at 5 years from the wildfire). Regarding other studies evaluating post-fire regeneration of vegetation, [PERSON] et al. [40] found that reforestation was, in some cases, comparable, and in other areas, higher, compared to natural regeneration of pines in burned forests of Greece.