Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Fire effects on the vital rates and stochastic population growth rate of the rare shrub Lindera subcoriacea Wofford

  • Published:
Plant Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Understanding demographic vital rates and the factors that affect those rates are key components of successful conservation strategies for many threatened and endangered rare plant species. Lindera subcoriacea is a rare dioecious shrub that occupies isolated wetland habitats in a small number of locations in the southeastern United States. The species faces a number of threats to its continued persistence, including habitat destruction, invasive species, and population isolation. From 2011 to 2019, we collected demographic information from 290 L. subcoriacea individuals within 28 populations on Fort Bragg, North Carolina and used the data to estimate demographic vital rates in unburned populations and after being exposed to prescribed fire. We then constructed population matrices and estimated population growth rates under a 3-, 5-, and 10-year return interval. Results indicated that L. subcoriacea individuals have high survivorship in both burned and unburned populations, seed production was reduced 1- and 2-year post-fire, seed production was highly uneven across individuals, seedling recruitment was extremely low, and simulated population growth rates were only above 1.0 under the 10-year fire return interval. Taken together, these results indicate that (1) L. subcoriacea populations are persisting with population growth rates close to one, (2) the short-term impacts of fire on the overall population growth rate of L. subcoriacea, while only 2–3% may determine long-term population viability, and (3) extremely uneven seed production and limited recruitment of seedlings into larger size classes make L. subcoriacea populations vulnerable to stochastic demographic processes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aleric KM, Kirkman LK (2005) Growth and photosynthetic responses of the federally endangered shrub, Lindera melissifolia (Lauraceae), to varied light environments. Am J Bot 92:682–689

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Allen GA, Antos JA (1993) Sex ratio variation in the dioecious shrub Oemleria cerasiformis. Am Nat 141:537–553

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bartlett CS (1967) Geology of the Southern Pines quandrangle. Master of Science thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  • Bell RHV (1984) Notes on elephant-woodland interactions. Status and Conservation of Africa’s Elephants and Rhinos. IUCN, Gland

    Google Scholar 

  • Best GS, Fraedrich SW (2018) An assessment of the potential impact of laurel wilt on clonal populations of Lindera melissifolia (Pondberry). Southeast Nat 17:616–628

    Google Scholar 

  • Bond WJ (2008) What limits trees in C4 grasslands and savannas? Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 39:641–659

    Google Scholar 

  • Bond WJ, Midgley JJ (2001) Ecology of sprouting in woody plants: the persistence niche. Trends Ecol Evol 16:45–51

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brockway DG, Lewis CE (1997) Long-term effects of dormant-season prescribed fire on plant community diversity, structure and productivity in a longleaf pine wiregrass ecosystem. For Ecol Manag 96:167–183

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler DR (1991) The reintroduction of the beaver into the South. Southeast Geogr 31:39–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Caswell H (2001) Matrix population models: construction, analysis, and interpretation, 2nd edn. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland

    Google Scholar 

  • Cipollini ML, Whigham DF (1994) Sexual dimorphism and cost of reproduction in the dioecious shrub Lindera benzoin (Lauraceae). Am J Bot 81:65–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Cipollini ML, Wallace-Senft DA, Whigham DF (1994) A model of patch dynamics, seed dispersal, and sex ratio in the dioecious shrub Lindera Benzoin (Lauraceae). J Ecol 82:621–633

    Google Scholar 

  • Cipollini ML, Whigham D, O’Neill J (2013) Seed size, sexual dimorphism, and sex ratio in Lindera benzoin L. (Lauraceae) 1, 2. J Torrey Bot Soc 140:300–312

    Google Scholar 

  • Connor KF, Schaefer GM, Donahoo JB, Devall MS, Gardiner ES, Leininger TD, Wilson AD, Schiff NM, Hamel PB, Zarnoch SJ (2012) Lindera melissifolia seed bank study in a lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley bottomland forest. Seed Technol 34:163–172

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellstrand NC, Elam DR (1993) Population genetic consequences of small population size: implications for plant conservation. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 24:217–242

    Google Scholar 

  • Emery SM, Gross KL (2005) Effects of timing of prescribed fire on the demography of an invasive plant, spotted knapweed Centaurea maculosa. J Appl Ecol 42:60–69. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2004.00990.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandes PM, Botelho HS (2003) A review of prescribed burning effectiveness in fire hazard reduction. Int J Wildland Fire 12:117–128. https://doi.org/10.1071/wf02042

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Formby JP, Rodgers JC, Koch FH, Krishnan N, Duerr DA, Riggins JJ (2018) Cold tolerance and invasive potential of the redbay ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus) in the eastern United States. Biol Invasions 20:995–1007

    Google Scholar 

  • Fraedrich SW, Harrington TC, Rabaglia RJ, Ulyshen MD, Mayfield AE III, Hanula JL, Eickwort JM, Miller DR (2008) A fungal symbiont of the redbay ambrosia beetle causes a lethal wilt in redbay and other Lauraceae in the southeastern United States. Plant Dis 92:215–224

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frost C (1998) Presettlement fire frequency regimes of the United States: a first approximation. In: Proceedings 20th tall timbers fire ecology conference; fire in ecosystem management: shifting the paradigm from suppression to prescription. Tallahassee

  • Garren KH (1943) Effects of fire on vegetation of the southeastern United States. Bot Rev 9:617–654. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02872506

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giam X, Bradshaw CJ, Tan HT, Sodhi NS (2010) Future habitat loss and the conservation of plant biodiversity. Biol Conserv 143:1594–1602

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillespie IG, Allen EB (2004) Fire and competition in a southern California grassland: impacts on the rare forb Erodium macrophyllum. J Appl Ecol 41:643–652

    Google Scholar 

  • Grady JM, Hoffmann WA (2012) Caught in a fire trap: recurring fire creates stable size equilibria in woody resprouters. Ecology 93:2052–2060

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gray JB, Sorrie BA, Wall W (2016) Canebrakes of the Sandhills region of the Carolinas and Georgia: fire history, canebrake area, and species frequency. Castanea 81:280–291

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffith GE, Omernik JM, Comstock J, Schafale MP, McNab WH, Lenat DR, MacPherson TF (2002) Ecoregions of North Carolina. Western Ecology Division, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, US Environmental Protection Agency

  • Grubb PJ (1977) The maintenance of species-richness in plant communities: the importance of the regeneration niche. Biol Rev 52:107–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Guerrant EO Jr, Kaye TN (2007) Reintroduction of rare and endangered plants: common factors, questions and approaches. Aust J Bot 55:362–370

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrington TC, Fraedrich SW, Aghayeva DN (2008) Raffaelea lauricola, a new ambrosia beetle symbiont and pathogen on the Lauraceae. Mycotaxon 104:399–404

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins TS, Walck JL, Hidayati SN (2011) Seed ecology of Lindera melissifolia (Lauraceae) as it relates to rarity of the species. J Torrey Bot Soc 138:298–307. https://doi.org/10.3159/TORREY-D-11-00021.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haymes KL, Fox GA (2012) Variation among individuals in cone production in Pinus palustris (Pinaceae). Am J Bot 99:640–645. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1100339

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández-Yáñez H, Kos JT, Bast MD, Griggs JL, Hage PA, Killian A, Loza MI, Whitmore MB, Smith AB (2016) A systematic assessment of threats affecting the rare plants of the United States. Biol Conserv 203:260–267

    Google Scholar 

  • Hothorn T, Bretz F, Westfall P (2008) Simultaneous inference in general parametric models. Biom J 50:346–363

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Just MG, Hohmann MG, Hoffmann WA (2016) Where fire stops: vegetation structure and microclimate influence fire spread along an ecotonal gradient. Plant Ecol 217:631–644. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-015-0545-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaye TN, Pendergrass KL, Finley K, Kauffman JB (2001) The effect of fire on the population viability of an endangered prairie plant. Ecol Appl 11:1366–1380

    Google Scholar 

  • Kesler HC, Trusty JL, Hermann SM, Guyer C (2008) Demographic responses of Pinguicula ionantha to prescribed fire: a regression-design LTRE approach. Oecologia 156:545–557. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-008-1022-1

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Krischik VA, Denno RF (1990) Differences in environmental response between the sexes of the dioecious shrub Baccharis halimifolia (Compositae). Oecologia 83:176–181

    Google Scholar 

  • Lashley MA, Chitwood MC, DePerno CS, Moorman CE (2017) Frequent fires eliminate fleshy fruit production. For Ecol Manag 405:9–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2017.09.034

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lesica P (1999) Effects of fire on the demography of the endangered, geophytic herb Silene spaldingii (Caryophyllaceae). Am J Bot 86:996–1002

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Little AM, Guntenspergen GR, Allen TF (2012) Wetland vegetation dynamics in response to beaver (Castor canadensis) activity at multiple scales. Ecoscience 19:246–257

    Google Scholar 

  • McCullagh P, Nelder JA (1989) Generalized linear models, 2nd edn. Chapman and Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Meagher TR, Thompson E (1987) Analysis of parentage for naturally established seedlings of Chamaelirium Luteum (Liliaceae). Ecology 68:803–812. https://doi.org/10.2307/1938351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menges ES, Kohfeldt N (1995) Life history strategies of florida scrub plants in relation to fire. Bull Torrey Bot Club 122:282. https://doi.org/10.2307/2996320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menges ES, Quintana-Ascencio PF (2004) Population viability with fire in Eryngium cuneifolium: Deciphering a decade of demographic data. Ecol Monogr 74:79–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer GA, Witmer MC (1998) Influence of seed processing by frugivorous birds on germination success of three North American shrubs. Am Midl Nat 140:129–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore LA, Willson MF (1982) The effect of microhabitat, spatial distribution, and display size on dispersal of Lindera benzoin by avian frugivores. Can J Bot 60:557–560

    Google Scholar 

  • Naiman RJ, Johnston CA, Kelley JC (1988) Alteration of North American streams by beaver. Bioscience 38:753–762

    Google Scholar 

  • NatureServe (2020) NatureServe explorer: an online encyclopedia of life [web application]. In: NatureServe Explor. Online Encycl. Life Web Appl. Version 71. https://www.natureserve.org/explorer. Accessed 15 May 2020

  • Neyman J, Pearson ES (1928a) On the use and interpretation of certain test criteria for purposes of statistical inference: Part I. Biometrika 20A:175–240

    Google Scholar 

  • Neyman J, Pearson ES (1928b) On the use and interpretation of certain test criteria for purposes of statistical inference: Part II. Biometrika 20A:263–294

    Google Scholar 

  • Oostermeijer JGB, Luijten SH, Den Nijs JCM (2003) Integrating demographic and genetic approaches in plant conservation. Biol Conserv 113:389–398

    Google Scholar 

  • Pavlik BM (1994) Demographic monitoring and the recovery of endangered plants. In: Bowles ML, Whelan CJ (eds) Restoration of endangered species: conceptual issues, planning and implementation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 322–350

    Google Scholar 

  • Pendergrass KL, Miller PM, Kauffman JB, Kaye TN (1999) The role of prescribed burning in maintenance of an endangered plant species, Lomatium bradshawii. Ecol Appl 9:1420–1429

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinheiro JC, Bates DM (2000) Mixed-effects models in S and S-PLUS. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Quintana-Ascencio PF, Menges ES (2000) Competitive abilities of three narrowly endemic plant species in experimental neighborhoods along a fire gradient. Am J Bot 87:690–699

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2019) R: a Language and environment for statistical computing. R Development Core Team, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

  • Schafale MP (2012) Guide to the natural communities of North Carolina, 4th approximation. North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Raleigh

    Google Scholar 

  • Schafer JL, Just MG (2014) Size dependency of post-disturbance recovery of multi-stemmed resprouting trees. PLoS ONE 9:e105600. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105600

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Schemske DW, Husband BC, Ruckelshaus MH, Goodwillie C, Parker IM, Bishop JG (1994) Evaluating approaches to the conservation of rare and endangered plants. Ecology 75:584–606

    Google Scholar 

  • Silvertown J, Franco M, Menges E (1996) Interpretation of elasticity matrices as an aid to the management of plant populations for conservation. Conserv Biol 10:591–597

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith CG, Hamel PB, Devall MS, Schiff NM (2004) Hermit thrush is the first observed dispersal agent for pondberry (Lindera melissifolia). Castanea 69:1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Snodgrass JW (1997) Temporal and spatial dynamics of beaver-created patches as influenced by management practices in a south-eastern North American landscape. J Appl Ecol 34:1043–1056

  • Sohl N, Owens J (1991) Cretaceous stratigraphy of the Carolina coastal plain. In: Horton JW, Zullo VA (eds) Geology of the Carolinas: Carolina Geological Society fiftieth anniversary volume. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, pp 191–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorrie BA, Gray JB, Crutchfield PJ (2006) The vascular flora of the longleaf pine ecosystem of Fort Bragg and Weymouth Woods, North Carolina. Castanea 71:129–161

    Google Scholar 

  • Sparks JC, Masters RE, Engle DM, Palmer MW, Bukenhofer GA (1998) Effects of late growing-season and late dormant-season prescribed fire on herbaceous vegetation in restored pine-grassland communities. J Veg Sci 9:133–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Stambaugh MC, Guyette RP, Marschall JM (2011) Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) fire scars reveal new details of a frequent fire regime. J Veg Sci 22:1094–1104

    Google Scholar 

  • Stubben C, Milligan B (2007) Estimating and analyzing demographic models using the popbio package in R. J Stat Softw 22:1–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Suding KN (2001) The effect of spring burning on competitive ranking of prairie species. J Veg Sci 12:849–856

    Google Scholar 

  • Swezey CS, Fitzwater BA, Whittecar GR, Mahan SA, Garrity CP, González WBA, Dobbs KM (2016) The Carolina Sandhills: Quaternary eolian sand sheets and dunes along the updip margin of the Atlantic Coastal Plain province, southeastern United States. Quat Res 86:271–286

    Google Scholar 

  • USFWS ECOS. 2020. Environmental Conservation Online System, Bog spicebush (Lindera subcoriacea). https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/879

  • Van Lear DH, Carroll W, Kapeluck P, Johnson R (2005) History and restoration of the longleaf pine-grassland ecosystem: implications for species at risk. For Ecol Manag 211:150–165

    Google Scholar 

  • Vankus V, Brinkman KA, Phipps H (2008) Lindera Thumb., spicebush. In: The woody plant seed manual. US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Washington, DC, p 1223

  • Vellend M, Baeten L, Becker-Scarpitta A, Boucher-Lalonde V, McCune JL, Messier J, Myers-Smith IH, Sax DF (2017) Plant biodiversity change across scales during the Anthropocene. Annu Rev Plant Biol 68:563–586. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-arplant-042916-040949

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wall WA, Hoffmann WA, Wentworth TR, Gray JB, Hohmann MG (2012) Demographic effects of fire on two endemic plant species in the longleaf pine-wiregrass ecosystem. Plant Ecol 213:1093–1104

    Google Scholar 

  • Wall WA, Hohmann MG, Walker AS, Gray JB (2013) Sex ratios and population persistence in the rare shrub Lindera subcoriacea Wofford. Plant Ecol 214:1105–1114. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-013-0234-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson JB, Levin DA (1986) Some genetic consequences of skewed fecundity distributions in plants. Theor Appl Genet 73:113–121

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wofford BE (1983) A new Lindera (Lauraceae) from North America. J Arnold Arbor 64:325–331

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Fort Bragg and the US Army for financial support. We also thank Stacy Huskins and the Fort Bragg Endangered Species Branch for technical and logistical support, and for their continued stewardship of one of the nation’s most biologically significant military installations.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, P. O. Box 9005, Champaign, IL, 61826, USA

    Wade A. Wall & Matthew G. Hohmann

  2. US Forest Service, 141 East Fisher Avenue, New Bern, NC, 28560, USA

    Andrew S. Walker

  3. Endangered Species Branch, Bldg 0-9125 McKellors Road, Fort Bragg, NC, 28310, USA

    Janet B. Gray

Authors
  1. Wade A. Wall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Andrew S. Walker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Janet B. Gray
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Matthew G. Hohmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wade A. Wall.

Additional information

Communicated by Neal J. Enright.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wall, W.A., Walker, A.S., Gray, J.B. et al. Fire effects on the vital rates and stochastic population growth rate of the rare shrub Lindera subcoriacea Wofford. Plant Ecol 222, 119–131 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-020-01092-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-020-01092-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation