Tanned or burned: the role of fire in shaping physical seed dormancy.

ABSTRACT: Plant species with physical seed dormancy are common in mediterranean fire-prone ecosystems. Because fire breaks seed dormancy and enhances the recruitment of many species, this trait might be considered adaptive in fire-prone environments. However, to what extent the temperature thresholds that break physical seed dormancy have been shaped by fire (i.e., for post-fire recruitment) or by summer temperatures in the bare soil (i.e., for recruitment in fire-independent gaps) remains unknown. Our hypothesis is that the temperature thresholds that break physical seed dormancy have been shaped by fire and thus we predict higher dormancy lost in response to fire than in response to summer temperatures. We tested this hypothesis in six woody species with physical seed dormancy occurring in fire-pr

SUBMITTER: Moreira B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3515543 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature