Fire timing in relation to masting: an important determinant of post-fire recruitment success for the obligate-seeding arid zone soft spinifex (Triodia pungens).

ABSTRACT: Background and Aims:Plant species with fire-triggered germination are common in many fire-prone ecosystems. For such plants, fire timing in relation to the timing of reproduction may strongly influence post-fire population regeneration if: (a) flowering occurs infrequently (e.g. plants are mast seeders); and (b) seed survival rates are low and input from the current year's flowering therefore contributes a large proportion of the viable dormant seedbank. The role of fire timing in relation to masting as a driver of post-fire recruitment has rarely been examined directly, so this study tested the hypothesis that fires shortly after masting trigger increased recruitment of the obligate-seeding arid zone spinifex, Triodia pungens R. Br., an iteroparous masting grass with smoke-cued germinatio

SUBMITTER: Wright BR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5786211 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature