Habitat fragmentation decouples fire-stimulated flowering from plant reproductive fitness.

ABSTRACT: Many plant species in historically fire-dependent ecosystems exhibit fire-stimulated flowering. While greater reproductive effort after fire is expected to result in increased reproductive outcomes, seed production often depends on pollination, the spatial distribution of prospective mates, and the timing of their reproductive activity. Fire-stimulated flowering may thus have limited fitness benefits in small, isolated populations where mating opportunities are restricted and pollination rates are low. We conducted a 6-y study of 6,357 Echinacea angustifolia (Asteraceae) individuals across 35 remnant prairies in Minnesota (USA) to experimentally evaluate how fire effects on multiple components of reproduction vary with population size in a common species. Fire increased annual repro

SUBMITTER: Beck J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10523459 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature