Plant functional types determine how close postfire seedlings are from their parents in a species-rich shrubland.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Fine-scale spatial patterns of the seedlings of co-occurring species reveal the relative success of reproduction and dispersal and may help interpret coexistence patterns of adult plants. To understand whether postfire community dynamics are controlled by mathematical, biological or environmental factors, we documented seedling-adult (putative parent) distances for a range of co-occurring species. We hypothesized that nearest-seedling-to-adult distances should be a function of the distance between the closest conspecific seedlings, closest inter-adult distances and seedling-to-parent ratios, and also that these should scale up in a consistent way from all individuals, to within and between species and finally between functional types (FTs).

Methods

We ass

SUBMITTER: Lamont BB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7872127 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature