Advances in understanding the influence of fire on the ecology and evolution of plants: a tribute to Peter J. Clarke

Lawes, Michael J.; Keith, David A.; Bradstock, Ross A.

doi:10.1007/s11258-016-0625-6

Cited by 14 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Protected buds may be of three types: terminal (palms, cycads, Xanthorrhoea ; Wittkuhn, Lamont, & He, ), axillary (Poaceae, Iridaceae, Alliaceae) or accessory (Myrtaceae, Proteaceae, Casuarinaceae; Groom & Lamont, ). It is generally believed that resprouting in response to fire is the universal ancestral trait and that non‐(re)sprouting evolved later (Pausas & Keeley, ; Jaureguiberry & Diaz, ; Lawes, Keith, & Bradstock, ). Indeed, all plants have some capacity to recover from physical removal of the apical bud, via the consequent bursting of the subtending axillary buds.…”

Section: Evolution Of Fire‐stimulated Resproutingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary history of fire‐stimulated resprouting, flowering, seed release and germination

Lamont

Yan

2018

Biological Reviews

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Fire has shaped the evolution of many plant traits in fire-prone environments: fire-resistant tissues with heat-insulated meristems, post-fire resprouting or fire-killed but regenerating from stored seeds, fire-stimulated flowering, release of on-plant-stored seeds, and germination of soil-stored seeds. Flowering, seed release and germination fit into three categories of response to intensifying fire: fire not required, weakly fire-adapted or strongly fire-adapted. Resprouting also has three categories but survival is always reduced by increasing fire intensity. We collated 286 records for 20 angiosperm and two gymnosperm families and 50 trait assignments to dated phylogenies. We placed these into three fire-adapted trait types: those associated with the origin of their clade and the onset of fire-proneness [primary diversification, contributing 20% of speciation events over the last 120 million years (My)], those originating much later coincident with a change in the fire regime (secondary diversification, 30%), and those conserved in the daughter lineage as already adapted to the fire regime (stabilisation, 50%). All four fire-response types could be traced to >100 My ago (Mya) with pyrogenic flowering slightly younger because of its dependence on resprouting. There was no evidence that resprouting was always an older trait than either seed storage or non-sprouting throughout this period, with either/both ancestral or derived in different clades and times.Fire-adapted traits evolved slowly in the Cretaceous, 120-65 Mya, and rapidly but fitfully in the Cenozoic, 65-0 Mya, peaking over the last 20 My. The four trait-types climaxed at different times, with the peak in resprouter speciation over the last 5 My attributable to fluctuating growing conditions and increasing savanna grasslands unsuitable for non-sprouters. All experienced a trough in the 40-30-Mya period following a reduction in world temperatures and oxygen levels and expected reduced fire activity. Thick bark and serotiny arose in the Mid-Cretaceous among extant Pinaceae. Heat-stimulated germination of hard seeds is ancestral in the 103-My-old Fabales. Smoke-(karrikin)-stimulated germination of non-hard seeds is even older, and includes the 101-My-old Restionaceae-Anarthriaceae. A smoke/karrikin response is detectable in some fire-free lineages that prove to have a fire-prone ancestry. Among clades that are predominantly fire-prone, absence of fire-related traits is the advanced condition, associated either with increased fire frequency (loss of serotiny and soil storage), or migration to fire-free habitats (loss of thick bark, pyrogenic flowering, serotiny or soil storage). Protea (Africa) and Hakea (Australia) illustrate the importance of stabilisation processes between resprouting/non-sprouting in accounting for speciation events over the last 20 My and highlight the frequent interchange possible between these two traits.Apart from Pinus, most ancestral trait reconstruction relative to fire has been conducted on predominantly Southern Hemisphere cl...

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Section: Evolution Of Fire‐stimulated Resproutingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary history of fire‐stimulated resprouting, flowering, seed release and germination

Lamont

Yan

2018

Biological Reviews

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“…Fire is a pervasive and recurrent disturbance across terrestrial ecosystems and is instrumental in shaping plant community composition, ecosystem productivity and carbon storage globally (Bowman et al, ; Bradstock, Gill, & Williams, ; Keeley, Bond, Bradstock, Pausas, & Rundel, ). The response of plant populations to fire is determined by the combination of resilience and resistance traits possessed by individuals (Clarke et al, ; Lawes, Keith, & Bradstock, ). Resilience traits allow individuals to regenerate following fire (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…resprouting, serotiny), whereas resistance traits protect tissues and buds from lethal temperatures (e.g. thick bark, tall crown) (Lawes et al, ). The susceptibility of ecosystems to state changes, such as the conversion of forest to non‐forest, in response to changing fire regimes (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eucalypt forests dominated by epicormic resprouters are resilient to repeated canopy fires

Collins

2019

Journal of Ecology

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1. Wildfire occurrence and severity are projected to increase in response to anthropogenic climate change, leading to fire regimes that may exceed the limits of tolerance for some species. Plants capable of regenerating from aerial shoots following high intensity fires, termed 'epicormic resprouters', are assumed to be resilient to changes in fire regimes. However, empirical tests of the response of epicormic resprouters to extreme fire regimes, such as repeated canopy fires at short intervals, are currently lacking.2. This study examined the effect of combinations of understorey fire and canopy fire across two successive wildfires (2007, 2013) on the resilience of eucalypts that resprout epicormically. The study took place in a temperate eucalypt forest in south eastern Australia. Measures used to infer community resilience included stem topkill and damage, and seedling recruitment. It was predicted that: (a) stems will exhibit lower resistance (i.e. increased topkill and damage) to canopy fire than understorey fire; (b) recruitment will be higher following canopy fire than understorey fire; (c) prior exposure to canopy fire will reduce stem resistance and recruitment in response to subsequent wildfires; and (d) stem resistance will vary depending on bark traits.3. Topkill of saplings and small stems (<30 cm diameter at breast height) was higher in sites that recently (i.e. 2013) experienced canopy fire as opposed to understorey fire. Recent fire severity had no effect on topkill of large trees. Tree species with dense bark on the main stem and larger branches were less prone to topkill or partial stem and branch mortality than species with fibrous bark or exposed branches. Seedling recruitment was greater following canopy fire than understorey fire. Exposure to past canopy fire (i.e. in 2007) did not decrease stem resistance or recruitment. Synthesis.The results of this study suggest that communities of eucalypts that can resprout epicormically following fire will experience demographic shifts following repeated canopy fires. However, given the high resistance of large trees and rapid post-fire recovery of the seedbank, ecosystem conversion appears unlikely. The findings support the presumption that forest communities of epicormic resprouters are highly resilient to shifts in fire regimes.

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“…Many species of trees and shrubs possess characteristics that link pulses of recruitment to fire events (Bond & van Wilgen, 1996;Gill, 1975Gill, , 1981Keeley & Fotheringham, 2000;Lawes, Keith, & Bradstock, 2016;Whelan, 1995). Seeds of some species have soilstored seed banks in which seed dormancy is broken by fire-related cues such as smoke or heat, allowing germination to occur as soon after the fire as climatic conditions become appropriate (Auld, 1987;Bradstock & O'Connell, 1988;Hudson, Ayre, & Ooi, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long inter‐fire intervals do not guarantee a large seed bank in a serotinous shrub (Banksia spinulosa Sm.)

Whelan

Ayre

2020

Journal of Ecology

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1. It is often assumed that long-lived woody perennials with canopy-stored seed banks steadily accumulate seeds over time since fire. Trends in flowering and fruiting have usually been inferred from synchronic studies of sites of different post-fire ages or counting stored seeds in apparent age classes, and mostly in obligate-seeder species. Long-term longitudinal studies on a broader range of species are needed to fully understand the dynamics of flower and fruit production and accumulation of viable seeds. Key questions are as follows: What is the annual trend in flowering and cone production? Is this matched by accumulation of cones and seeds? How is seed germinability related to cone age at the time of a fire? 2. We counted inflorescences and tagged cones produced annually by the resprouting shrub Banksia spinulosa in 315 plants over 13 years at one site and in 46 plants over 20 years at another. At the end of the study, we harvested all accumulated cones, burned them and assessed seed viability using germination trials. 3. We detected enormous inter-plant variation in reproductive effort and output. 50% of inflorescences was produced by only 10%-15% of plants. There was a potential for accumulation of massive seed banks. However, (a) only 8%-10% of inflorescences became cones; (b) only 44%-50% of these were retained until harvest; (c) many retained cones suffered seed predation; and (d) viability of retained seeds declined with cone age. The result of these processes meant that the accumulated seed bank was only two to four seeds per plant, 82%-94% of the viable seeds had been produced in 6 years prior to harvest and only 12%-26% of plants contributed to this viable seed bank. 4. Synthesis: Cone and seed losses and declining seed viability in B. spinulosa mean that almost all viable seeds come from the past few years of flowering even though apparently intact cones may be retained for decades. If this is typical for resprouting serotinous shrubs, it is important to understand trends in flowering and fruit set over time because the magnitude of recruitment will depend on fecundity in the few years prior to a fire.

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Advances in understanding the influence of fire on the ecology and evolution of plants: a tribute to Peter J. Clarke

Cited by 14 publications

References 69 publications

Evolutionary history of fire‐stimulated resprouting, flowering, seed release and germination

Evolutionary history of fire‐stimulated resprouting, flowering, seed release and germination

Eucalypt forests dominated by epicormic resprouters are resilient to repeated canopy fires

Long inter‐fire intervals do not guarantee a large seed bank in a serotinous shrub (Banksia spinulosa Sm.)

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