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Fire effects on litter chemistry and early development of Eucalyptus globulus

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Abstract

Background and aim

Fires affect what happens to litter in ecosystems. Biological and chemical effects of burnt litter on plants are not as of yet fully understood. We aimed to assess the effects of heat-treated leaf litter on germination and seedling root growth of Eucalyptus globulus.

Methods

Litter from E. globulus, Acacia dealbata, Pinus pinaster, and Quercus suber was collected in Portugal, on Humic Cambisol, and heated between 25 °C and 600 °C. Those materials were then characterized by: 13C CPMAS NMR spectroscopy, proximate lignin and cellulose, and elemental analyses. Afterwards, they were used as substrate in bioassays with Eucalyptus seeds.

Results

Heating changed litter composition (P < 0.05), consistently across species: alkyl C, O-alkyl C, and methoxyl + N-alkyl C decreased more than 50%; and aromatic C increased more than 5-fold. Unheated and lightly heated litters inhibited germination and growth, with maximum inhibition by Quercus and Eucalyptus litters, down to 17% of the control (P < 0.05). Severely charred materials had neutral or stimulatory effects, up to 191% of the control (P < 0.05). These responses were associated with concentrations of dominant C types in litters (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Litter charring, as it occurs during wildfires, is potentially critical for the success of E. globulus’s regeneration from seeds.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Anthony B. Mount for his insightful ideas. His seminal work on the concept of plant wastes and on their ecology was inspiring for our study. We also thank Ana M. Águas and Helder Águas for helping in field trips; as well as Clara Ferino, Gianluca Mazzei, Virginio Mazzei, Gaspare Cesarano, Salvatore Gaglione, and Tushar Sarker for helping in the laboratory in the two busiest days; and Iryna Skulska for the translation from Russian. Finally we thank two anonymous reviewers for their comments. The 13C-CPMAS NMR measurements were performed at the CERMANU-Interdepartmental Research Centre, University of Naples Federico II. The elemental analyses were done at the Laboratório de Plantas e Solos of the Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto-Douro. Ana Águas had a PhD scholarship from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (SFRH/BD/76899/2011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Ecologia Aplicada “Prof. Baeta Neves” (CEABN), InBio, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisboa, Portugal

    Ana Águas, Joaquim S. Silva & Francisco C. Rego

  2. School of Education and Social Sciences, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Rua Dr. João Soares, 2411-901, Leiria, Portugal

    Ana Águas

  3. Department of Agri-Food, Animal and Environmental Sciences, University of Udine, via delle Scienze 206, 33100, Udine, Italy

    Guido Incerti

  4. Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, via Università 100, 80055, Portici (NA), Italy

    Antonio Saracino, Virginia Lanzotti, Stefano Mazzoleni & Giuliano Bonanomi

  5. Coimbra Agriculture School, Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, 3040-316, Coimbra, Portugal

    Joaquim S. Silva

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  1. Ana Águas
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  2. Guido Incerti
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  3. Antonio Saracino
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  4. Virginia Lanzotti
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  5. Joaquim S. Silva
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  6. Francisco C. Rego
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  7. Stefano Mazzoleni
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  8. Giuliano Bonanomi
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Correspondence to Ana Águas.

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Águas, A., Incerti, G., Saracino, A. et al. Fire effects on litter chemistry and early development of Eucalyptus globulus . Plant Soil 422, 495–514 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3419-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-017-3419-2

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