Impacts of land management on the resilience of 2 Mediterranean dry forests to fire 3

11 Wildfires have always been a part of the history of Mediterranean forests. However, forest 12 regeneration after a wildfire is not certain. It depends on many factors, some of which may be 13 influenced by land management activities. Failure of regeneration will cause a regime shift in the 14 ecosystem, reducing the provision of ecosystem services and ultimately leading to desertification. 15 How can we increase Mediterranean forests’ resilience to fire? To answer this question, we did a 16 literature review, investigating chains of processes that allow forests to regenerate (which we label 17 “regeneration mechanisms”), and assessed the impact of selected management practices 18 documented in the WOCAT database on the regeneration mechanisms. 19 We identified three distinct regeneration mechanisms that enable Mediterranean forests to recover, 20 as well as the time frame before and after a fire in which they are at work, and factors that can hinder 21 or support resilience. The three regeneration mechanisms enabling a forest to regenerate after a fire 22 consist of regeneration (1) from a seed bank; (2) from resprouting individuals; and (3) from 23 unburned plants that escaped the fire. 24 Management practices were grouped into four categories: (1) fuel breaks, (2) fuel management, (3) 25 afforestation, and (4) mulching. We assessed how and under what conditions land management 26 modifies the ecosystem’s resilience. The results show that land management influences resilience 27 by interacting with resilience mechanisms before and after the fire, and not just by modifying the 28 fire regime. Our analysis demonstrates a need for adaptive – i.e. contextand time-specific – 29 management strategies. 30