Spatiotemporal distribution and diversity of plant communities in postfire sites of Mt. Iglit-Baco Natural Park (MIBNP), Occidental Mindoro, Philippines

The existing monitoring strategy of Mts. Iglit-Baco National Park (MIBNP) employ extensive use of fires. These practices are hypothesized to hinder the natural succession from grassland to forest. To address these concerns, a biodiversity assessment utilized incidence-based sampling with nineteen repetitions from 2020–2021 across five sites within the Core Zone of Monitoring. A total of 77 species belonging to 27 families were documented. Spatiotemporal post-burning biodiversity trends exhibit the pattern of dominance of certain introduced and native plant species such as Themeda gigantea for site 1, Chromolaena odorata for site 2, Themeda triandra for site 3, and Imperata cylindrica for sites 4 and 5. These results facilitated a deeper understanding of the progression of changes in species composition as an impact of burning practices through space and time.