Abstract
This study examines the effect of fire on the germination of Pinus pinaster seeds from a population with special adaptations to this type of disturbance, due to the high frequency of fires to which they have been subjected. The action of fire was simulated in the laboratory using thermal shocks. Temperatures of 60, 90, 120, 200 and 300 °C were used for exposure times of 1 and 5 min. The viability of seeds of this species from the soil seed bank of a population subjected to a wildfire was also evaluated. The results show that germination is not increase by a thermal treatment. The effect is negative at temperatures above 90 °C and exposure times of 1 min with a significant decrease in, or even no, germination. Therefore the seeds cannot stand high temperatures and reproductive effort is placed on serotinous cone development and the production of high numbers of seeds. The high viability of the seeds from the area burned by wildfire, immediately after the fire and 1 year later, show the high potential of the soil seed bank to contribute to the regeneration of the burned area.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbas H., Barbero H., Loisel R. (1984). Réflexions sur le dinamisme actuel de la régéneration naturelle du pin d’Alep (Pinus halepensis Mil.) dans les pinèdes incendiées en Provence calcaire (de 1973 à 1979). Ecologia Mediterranea 10:85–95
Archibold O.W. (1979). Buried viable propagules as a factor in post-fire regeneration in Northern Saskatchewan. Can. J. Bot. 57:54–58
Archibold O.W. (1989). Seed bank and vegetation processes in coniferous forest. In: Leck M.A., Parker V.T., Simpson L.M. (eds), Ecology of Soil Seed Banks. Academic Press, Inc. New York, pp. 107–122
Baskin J.M., Baskin C.C. (1998). Seed, Ecology, Biogeography and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination. Academic Press, San Diego
Benister Romero F. (1989). Semillas. Biología y Tecnología. Ed Mundiprensa, Madrid
Catalan G. 1985. Semillas de árboles y arbustos forestales. Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación. Madrid
Castro J.F., Bento J., Rego F. (1990). Regeneration of Pinus pinaster forest after wildfire. In: Goldammer J.G., Jenkins M.J. (eds), Fire in Ecosystems Dynamics. SPB Academic Publising, The Hague, pp. 71–75
Cochran W.G. (1941). The distribution of the largest of a set of estimated variances as a fraction of their total. Ann. Eugen (Lond.) 11:47–61
Côme D. (1970). Les obstacles à la germiantion. Masson, Paris
David H.A., Hartley H.O., Pearson E.S. (1954). The distribution of the ratio, in a single normal sample of range to standard deviation. Biométrica 41:482–493
Escudero A., Sanz M.V., Pita J.M., Pérez-García F. (1999). Probability of germination after heat treatment of native Spanish pines. Ann. Forest Sci. 56:511–520
Fenner M. (1995). The effects of pre-germination chilling on subsequent growth and flowering in three arable weeds. Weed Res. 35:489–493
Francelet A. 1970. Stimulation de l’ ouverture des cônes de pin. I.N.R.F. Tunis Note technique 13
Fravers S. (1994). The insulating value of serotinous cones in protecting pitch pine (Pinus rigida) seeds from high temperatures. J. Pennsylvania Acad. Sci. 3:112–116
Hanley E., Fenner M. (1998). Pre-germination temperature and the survivorship and onward growth of Mediterranean fire-following plant species. Acta Oecol. 19(2):181–187
Lamont B.B., Le Maitre D.C., Cowling R.M., Enright N.J. (1991). Canopy seed storage in woody plants. Bot. Rev. 57:277–317
Loisel R. (1966). Germination du pin d’Alep au niveau de certaines associations végétales de Basse-Provence. Bulletin Société Botanique France 113:324–330
Marcos E. 1997. Procesos edáficos en comunidades vegetales alteradas por el fuego. Doctoral thesis. Universidad de León
Martínez Sánchez J.J. 1994. Dinámica de la vegetación post-incendio en la provincia de Albacete y zonas limítrofes de la provincia de Murcia. Ph.D. thesis. Universidad de Murcia
Martínez-Sanchez J., Marín A., Herranz J.M., Ferrandis P., Heras J. (1995). Effects of high temperatures on germination of Pinus halepensis Mill. and P. pinaster Aiton subsp. pinaster seeds in southeast Spain. Vegetatio 116:69–72
Ministerio de Agricultura 1980. Caracterización Agroclimática de la provincia de León. Dirección General de Producción Agraria. Subdirección General de la Producción Vegetal. Madrid, Spain
Naveh Z. (1974). Effects of fire in the Mediterranean region. In: Kozlowski T.T., Ahlgren C.E. (eds), Fire and Ecosystems. Academic Press, New York, pp. 401–434
Naveh Z. (1975). The evolutionary significance of fire in the Mediterranean region. Vegetatio 29:199–208
Nuñez P., Calvo L. (2000). Effect of high temperatures on seed germination of Pinus sylvestris and Pinus halepensis. Forest Ecol. Manage. 131:183–190
Pérez B., Moreno J.M. (1998). Fire type and forestry management effects on the early post-fire vegetation dynamics of a Pinus pinaster woodland. Plant Ecol. 134:27–41
Red W.J., Larsen C.P.S., Johnson E.A., MacDonald G.M. (1998). Estimation of temporal variations in historical fire frequency from time-since-fire map data. Forest Sci. 44(3):465–475
Reyes O., Casal M. (1995). Germination behaviour of 3 species of the genus Pinus in relation to high temperatures suffered during forest fires. Ann. Forest Sci. 52:385–392
Reyes O., Casal M. (2002a). Effect of high temperatures on cone opening and on the release and viability of Pinus pinaster and P. radiata seeds in NW Spain. Ann. Forest Sci. 59:327–334
Reyes O., Casal M. (2002b). Experimental field emergence and early survival of six tree species in relation to forest fires. In: Trabaud L., Prodon R. (eds), Fire and Biological Processes. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands, pp. 277–290
Reyes O., Casal M. (2002c). Role of fire on seed dissemination and germination of P. Pinaster and P. radiata. Nova Acta Científica Compostelana (Bioloxía) 12:111–118
Roberts H.A. (1981). Seed banks in soils. Adv. Appl. Biol. 6:l–55
Sanchez P. (1999). Selvicultura y ordenación del pino resinero Pinus pinaster Ait. En la sierra del Teleno (León). Montes 56:69–76
Scheffe H. (1959). The Analysis of Variance. John Wiley & Sons, INC., New York
Tapias R., Gil L. (2000). Adaptación reproductiva de las especies forestales ante el fuego. In: Velez R. (eds), La defensa contra incendios forestales. Fundamentos y experiencias. Mc Graw Hill, Madrid, pp. 4.36–4.66
Tapias R., Gil L., Pardo J.A. (1998). Los pinares (Pinus pinaster Ait.) de las estribaciones de la sierra del Teleno (León). La influencia del incendio en su ordenación. Montes 52:115–120
Tapias R., Gil L., Fuentes-Utrilla P., Pardos J.A. (2001). Canopy seed banks in Mediterranean pines of southeastern Spain: a comparison between Pinus halepensis Mill., Pinus pinaster Ait., Pinus nigra Arn. and Pinus pinea L. J. Ecol. 89:629–638
Tapias R., Climent J., Pardos J.A., Gil L. (2004). Life histories of Mediterranean pines. Plant Ecol. 171:53–68
Tárrega R. and Luis E. 1992. Los incendios forestales en León. Universidad de León. pp 137
Tárrega R., Calvo L., Trabaud L. (1992). Effect of high temperatures on seed germination of two woody Leguminosae. Vegetatio 102:139–147
Thanos G.A., Marcou S. (1991). Post-fire regeneration in Pinus brutia forest ecosystems of Samos island (Greece): 6 years after. Acta Oecol. 12:633–642
Trabaud L. (1979). Etude du comportement du feu dans la garrigue de chêne kermes a partir des températures et des vitesses de propagation. Annales des Sciencences Forestières 36(1):13–38
Trabaud L. (1987). Dynamics after fire of sclerophyllous plant communities in the Mediterranean basin. Ecologia Mediterranea 13:25–37
Trabaud L., Casal M. (1989). Réponses des semences des Rosmarinus officinalis à différents traitments simulant une action de feu. Acta Oecol. 10(4):355–363
Trabaud L., Campant C. (1991). Difficulté de recolonisation naturelle du Pin de Salzmann Pinus nigra ssp salzmannii (Dunal) Franco aprés incendie. Biol. Conser. 58:329–343
Trabaud L., Oustric J. (1989). Influence du feu sur la germination des semences de quatre espèces ligneuses méditeranéennes à reproduction sexuée obligatoire. Seed Sci. Technol. 17:589–599
Valbuena L. 1995. El banco de semillas del suelo y su papel en la recuperación de comunidades incendiadas. Tesis Doctoral. Universidad de León
Vega J.A. (1977). Influencia del fuego en los hábitats regenerativos de Pinus sylvestris y Pinus halepensis en Galicia (Nordoeste de España). Monografías del ICONA 20:47–49
Williams J.E., Whelan R.J., Gill A.M. (1994). Fire and environmental heterogeneity in southern temperate forest ecosystems: implications for management. Aust. J. Bot. 42:125–137
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank to Althea Davies from Stirling University for helping us to revise the article. Similarly, we would like to thank the anonymous referee for comments that have helped to improve the article.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Torres, O., Calvo, L. & Valbuena, L. Influence of high temperatures on seed germination of a special Pinus pinaster stand adapted to frequent fires. Plant Ecol 186, 129–136 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-006-9117-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-006-9117-4