Vol.: (0123456789) 1 3 Landsc Ecol (2023) 38:2207–2225 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-023-01687-x RESEARCH ARTICLE Forest landscape dynamics after intentional large‑scale fres in western Patagonia reveal unusual temperate forest recovery trends Ángela Hernández‑Moreno  · Daniel P. Soto  · Alejandro Miranda  · Andrés Holz  · Dolors Armenteras‑Pascual Received: 6 December 2022 / Accepted: 20 May 2023 / Published online: 4 June 2023 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2023 Abstract Context Western Chilean Patagonia is an isolated temperate region with an important proportion of intact forest landscapes (IFL) that was subjected to large-scale fres over 60 years ago. However, there is no empirical evaluation of the land cover dynamics to establish the forest loss and recovery, and the efect on the landscape structure and function, and remnant IFL following the fres. Objectives The present study addressed the following questions: (1) What have been the main trends of the land cover dynamics between 1984 and 2018 follow- ing earlier fres, and how have these trends shaped the spatial patterns and potential carbon stock of forests in western Patagonia? (2) What proportion of forest land- scape remains intact following fres in this region? Methods We selected the Coyhaique Province (1,231,910 ha) in western Chilean Patagonia as the study area. Land cover maps for three dates (1984, 2000, 2018) were used to evaluate landscape dynam- ics after fres. A map of persistence and change occur- rence was made to estimate the IFL area over the 1984–2018 period. Landscape metrics were used to assess landscape structure change, and potential car- bon stock was estimated based on a literature review. Results Following fres, the main land cover changes between 1984 and 2018 were loss of ~ 32,600 ha of old-growth forest and a recovery of ~ 69,000 ha of second-growth forest. The increase in second- growth forest area mainly resulted from loss of agri- cultural cover (~ 41% of the area). Despite these changes, ~ 61% of the area could potentially remain as IFL after fres. Over the 1984–2018 period, a slight increase in fragmentation of old-growth forest, and a Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi. org/10.1007/s10980-023-01687-x. Á. Hernández-Moreno (*)  Centro de Investigación en Ecosistemas de la Patagonia, Camino Baguales S/N Km 4, Coyhaique, Chile e-mail: angelahernandezmc@gmail.com D. P. Soto  Departamento de Ciencias Naturales y Tecnología, Universidad de Aysén, Coyhaique, Chile A. Miranda  Laboratorio de Ecología del Paisaje y Conservación, Departamento de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad de la Frontera, Temuco, Chile A. Miranda  Center for Climate and Resilience Research (CR)2, Santiago, Chile A. Holz  Global Environmental Change Lab, Department of Geography, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA D. Armenteras-Pascual  Laboratorio de Ecología del Paisaje y Modelación de Ecosistemas ECOLMOD, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Bogotá, Colombia