Plant trait information is essential for understanding plant evolution, vegetation dynamics, and vegetation responses to disturbance and management. Furthermore, in Mediterranean ecosystems, changes in fire regime may be more relevant than direct changes in climatic conditions, making the knowledge of fire-related traits especially important. Thus the purpose of this data set was to compile the most updated and comprehensive information on fire-related traits for vascular plant species of the Mediterranean Basin, that is, traits related to plant persistence and regeneration after fire. Data were collected from an extensive literature review and from field and experimental observations. The data source is documented for each value. Since life history traits may vary spatially or with environmental conditions, we did not aggregate them by species; i.e., traits and species are repeated in different records if they were observed by different researchers and/or in different locations. Life history traits included in the data set are: life form, resprouting ability (after fire, after clipping, or after other disturbances that remove all the aboveground biomass), resprouting bud source, heat-stimulated germination, other germination cues, seed bank location and longevity, post-fire seedling emergence and survival, maturity age of resprouts and saplings, and seed mass. Several traits are unknown for many species; consequently, the data set reflects the state of the knowledge on the topic. However, since the ability to resprout is a trait of paramount relevance in fire-prone environments, it was considered a core trait in the data set, and thus species whose resprouting capacity was unknown were not included. Life form is also provided for all taxa. The structure of the database allows different levels of information (and accuracy) for each entry, and thus some traits may include different types of data (quantitative, semi-quantitative, or categorical) from different sources.The data set is structured in 8263 records and 11 columns, obtained from 301 published and unpublished sources of information. It includes 952 taxa determined at specific or infraspecific level, which comprise 859 species, 384 genera, and 79 families. Although this is the most comprehensive data set of fire-relevant plant traits for Mediterranean species, there is still a considerable need for observations and experiments, especially in little-studied Mediterranean areas, such as northern Africa.

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Abstract. The vegetation composition of a post-fke succession in Aleppo pine forests of Anica, Greece, was studied by a synchronic method. The sites form a post-fire chronosequence and have typical Mediterranean climate. Data on the flora of the burned sites, growth and life forms of the various plant taxa, as weU as on vegetation smcture are provided. The burned ecosystems recovered quite rapidly. During the first four years of the post-fm succession, herbaceous taxa dominate the flora of the forests, peaking at the second year. After 15 years little change in the vegetation wasobsemed. Therichest family in temsof the numberoftam was IheLeguminosae, especially in the two fist years of succession. Most of these taxa were herbaceous. The relative contribution of legumes to the flora after two years is gradually restricted.

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Pinus halepensis forests are among the forest ecosystems in the Mediterranean Basin most affected by fire. Their distribution across lowland areas, in particular along the wildland-urban interface, increases the need to understand their ecology and responses to fire regime for their effective management. Apart from the extremely flammable tree layer, in several stands of these forests there is an increased fuel load attributed to the well-developed understorey of evergreen sclerophyllous shrubs. Taking into consideration that, in contrast with the long period required for full development of post-fire-regenerating pines, these shrubs resprout vigorously within the first postfire weeks, it is important to explore the temporal trend of fuel accumulation to determine the risk of a second fire across a burned landscape. Two post-fire chronosequences of, in total, 12 P. halepensis stands were considered for sampling in Central Greece. The first chronosequence corresponds to pine stands characterized by the dominance of evergreen sclerophyllous shrubs in the understorey (Type 1) whereas the second chronosequence corresponds to pine stands where the cover of such shrubs was lower (Type 2). This study helps in understanding the fuel dynamics according to the type of P. halepensis forest stand and to anticipate future biomass growth. The proposed equations are simple tools, enabling land managers to estimate understorey total fuel load easily by visually recording the cover and height of the evergreen sclerophyllous shrub component, to justify understorey fuel reduction measures.