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Seed rain across fire-created edges in a neotropical rainforest

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Abstract

Human-induced wildfires are increasing in frequency in tropical forests, and their deleterious consequences for biodiversity include decreases in seed rain, which may be affected directly by fire or indirectly by the creation of edges between forest and non-forest environments. Understanding seed rain is key to assess the potential for natural regeneration in plant communities. We assessed the impact of fire and fire-created edges on seed rain species richness, abundance, size, weight, and dispersal syndromes in Atlantic Forest remnants in Bahia, Brazil. We assessed seed rain at monthly intervals for an entire year along seven 300 m-long transects placed perpendicular to the edge. We installed seed traps at the edge and at 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, and 150 m into the burnt area and into the forest from forest edge. We recorded a total of 9050 seeds belonging to 250 morphospecies. We did not observe edge influence; however, we detected a lower abundance and proportion of animal-dispersed seeds in the burnt than in the unburnt areas. The seed abundance in the burnt areas was lower and seeds were smaller and lighter than those in the unburnt area. Seed rain in the burnt area was not greater near to the forest than far from it. The abundance and richness of seed rain was positively correlated with tree density. Our findings highlight the lack of seed rain in burnt areas and differences in community composition between the burnt and unburnt areas. Collectively, these results indicate negative consequences on natural regeneration, which can lead to permanent secondarization of the vegetation and challenges for early regeneration of burnt areas, which will initially have impoverished forests due to low seed richness.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation) for the authorization to carry out the research in the RVS de Una (SISBIO License No. 60990-1), to Adson Santos for his assistance in data collection and to Rafael de Oliveira Xavier and Juliana Silveira dos Santos, and three anonymous reviewers, whose suggestions improved the manuscript, and Caroline Franklin for English reviewing.

Funding

This study was funded by the Rectorate for Research and Post-Graduation of the State University of Santa Cruz—UESC (PROPP—Project Number 00220.1100.1773). We received financial support from Idea Wild for essential field equipment. JISR received a Masters scholarship from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia (FAPESB) and GSCM received a Masters scholarship from the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001, PD received a post-doctoral scholarship from the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—PNPD. EC thanks the CNPq for the productivity fellowship (306373/2018–1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC), Rodovia Ilhéus-Itabuna, Km 16, Ilhéus, Bahia, 42662-900, Brazil

    Janaine Isabela da Silva Rocha, Eliana Cazetta & Daniela Custódio Talora

  2. Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Environment, Rod. BA 001, Km 45, Una, BA, 45690-000, Brazil

    Gustavo Souza Cruz Menezes

  3. Institute of Biology, Federal University of Bahia, Rua Barão de Jeremoabo, 668, Ondina, Salvador, Bahia, 40170-115, Brazil

    Pavel Dodonov

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  1. Janaine Isabela da Silva Rocha
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  2. Gustavo Souza Cruz Menezes
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  3. Eliana Cazetta
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  4. Pavel Dodonov
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All authors contributed to the study conception. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by JIdSR, PD, and DCT. The first draft of the manuscript was written by JIdSR, and all authors contributed on all versions, reading and approving the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Janaine Isabela da Silva Rocha.

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Communicated by Christopher Carcaillet.

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da Silva Rocha, J.I., Menezes, G.S.C., Cazetta, E. et al. Seed rain across fire-created edges in a neotropical rainforest. Plant Ecol 223, 247–261 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-021-01205-6

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