Bark production of generalist and specialist species across savannas and forests in the Cerrado.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Bark allows species to survive fire, protecting their inner tissues and allowing new branches to resprout from aerial buds. Thus, bark production is likely to be selected with aerial bud protection in fire-prone ecosystems. By considering the coexistence of fire-prone and fire-free ecosystems, in addition to the different impacts of flames on different growth forms, in this study we tested whether: (1) species from areas with higher fire frequencies have a faster bark production; (2) bark growth rate differs between trees and shrubs; (3) generalists adjust their bark production according to their environment (fire-prone or fire-free ecosystems); and (4) fast bark production results in better aerial bud protection.

Methods

We sampled two different types of

SUBMITTER: Chiminazzo MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10147323 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature