Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fire effects on the seed bank of three Mediterranean shrubs: implications for fire management

  • Published:
Plant Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To evaluate fire effects on the soil seed bank of a Mediterranean heathland, soil and litter samples were collected under the three dominant shrub species (Erica australis L., Erica umbellata Loefl. ex L., and Pterospartum tridentatum (L.) Willk) before and after an experimental fire. Target plants were selected near to 12 points regularly spaced in a grid layout in a 50 × 50 m plot. Soil heating by the fire was estimated using thermocouples installed at 1.5 cm depth. The soil seed bank was dominated by E. australis and E. umbellata. Erica australis having statistically significantly higher germination densities under their conspecific shrubs. Pterospartum tridentatum was extremely underrepresented in the viable seed bank, despite being the dominant species in the vegetation. Fire did not produce significant differences in the overall germination, but post-fire germination density of E. australis was related to maximum temperatures recorded at 1.5 cm depth. Special focus was given to the seed bank of the obligate seeder E. umbellata and its possible implications in population regeneration after recurrent fires. There was, however, no evidence that current fire frequency would imply a risk of population decline, since E. umbellata seed bank is abundant despite the scarcity of adult shrubs.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aguiar C, Capelo J (2000) Plano Sectorial da Rede Natura 2000—Habitats Naturais

  • Bossuyt B, Honnay O (2008) Can the seed bank be used for ecological restoration? An overview of seed bank characteristics in European communities. J Veg Sci 19:875–884

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calvo L, Baeza J, Marcos E, Santana V, Papanastasis VP (2012a) Post-fire management of shrublands. In: Moreira F, Arianoutsou M, Corona P, De las Heras J (eds) Post-fire management and restoration of Southern European Forests. Springer, Netherlands, pp 293–319

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Calvo L, Tárrega R, Luis E (2012b) Changes of species richness in heathland communities over 15 years following disturbances. Int J For Res 2012:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Céspedes B, Luna B, Pérez B, Urbieta IR, Moreno JM (2014) Burning season effects on the short-term post-fire vegetation dynamics of a Mediterranean heathland. Appl Veg Sci 17:86–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chambers JC, MacMahon JA (2011) A day in the life of a seed: movements and fates of seeds and their implications for natural and managed systems. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 25:263–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke PJ, Campbell ML (2006) Seed dynamics of resprouting shrubs in grassy woodlands: seed rain, predators and seed loss constrain recruitment potential. Austral Ecol 31:1016–1026

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cruz A, Pérez B, Velasco A, Moreno JM (2003) Variability in seed germination at the interpopulation, intrapopulation and intraindividual levels of the shrub Erica australis in response to fire-related cues. Plant Ecol 169:93–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denham AJ, Whelan RJ, Auld TD (2009) Characterizing the litter in postfire environments: implications for seedling recruitment. Int J Plant Sci 170:53–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eshel A, Henig-Sever N, Ne’eman G (2000) Spatial variation of seedling distribution in an east Mediterranean pine woodland at the beginning of post-fire succession. Plant Ecol 148:175–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Facelli JM, Pickett ST (1991) Plant litter: its dynamics and effects on plant community structure. Bot Rev 57:1–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandes PM, Davies GM, Ascoli D, Fernández C, Moreira F, Rigolot E, Stoof CR, Vega JA, Molina D (2013) Prescribed burning in southern Europe: developing fire management in a dynamic landscape. Front Ecol Environ 11:e4–e14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernández C, Vega JA (2014) Shrub recovery after fuel reduction treatments and a subsequent fire in a Spanish heathland. Plant Ecol 215:1233–1243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernández C, Vega JA, Fonturbel T (2013) Fuel reduction at a Spanish heathland by prescribed fire and mechanical shredding: effects on seedling emergence. J Environ Manage 129:621–627

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fernández-Abascal I, Tárrega R, Luis-Calabuig E (2004) Ten years of recovery after experimental fire in a heathland: effects of sowing native species. For Ecol Manage 203:147–156. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2004.07.058

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrandis P, Herranz JM, Martinez-Sanchez JJ (1999) Fire impact on a maquis soil seed bank in Cabaneros National Park (central Spain). Isr J Plant Sci 47:17–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox LR, Deveny AJ (2006) Indirect interactions between browsers and seed predators affect the seed bank dynamics of a chaparral shrub. Oecologia 150:69–77

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gimingham CH (1972) Ecology of heathlands. Chapman and Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Gross KL (1990) A comparison of methods for estimating seed numbers in the soil. J Ecol 78:1079–1093

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holm S (1979) A simple sequentially rejective multiple test procedure. Scand J Stat 6(2):65–70

    Google Scholar 

  • ICNF (2013) Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas. http://www.icnf.pt/portal/florestas

  • Keeley J (2009) Fire intensity, fire severity and burn severity: a brief review and suggested usage. Int J Wildl Fire 18:116. doi:10.1071/WF07049

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maia P, Pausas JG, Arcenegui V, Guerrero C, Pérez-Bejarano A, Mataix-Solera J, Varela MET, Fernandes I, Pedrosa ET, Keizer JJ (2012a) Wildfire effects on the soil seed bank of a maritime pine stand—the importance of fire severity. Geoderma 191:80–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maia P, Pausas JG, Vasques A, Keizer JJ (2012b) Fire severity as a key factor in post-fire regeneration of Pinus pinaster (Ait.) in Central Portugal. Ann For Sci 69:489–498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreira B, Pausas JG, Tormo J, Estrelles E (2010) Disentangling the role of heat and smoke as germination cues in Mediterranean basin flora. Ann Bot 105:627–635

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Nathan R, Muller-landau HC (2000) Spatial patterns of seed dispersal, their determinants and consequences for recruitment. Tree 15:278–285

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ottewell KM, Ayre DJ, Krauss SL, Whelan RJ (2009) Genetic structure of seedling cohorts following repeated wildfires in the fire-sensitive shrub Persoonia mollis spp. nectens. J Ecol 97:752–760

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paula S, Pausas JG (2008) Burning seeds: germinative response to heat treatments in relation to resprouting ability. J Ecol 96:543–552

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paula S, Arianoutsou M, Kazanis D, Tavsanoglu C, Lloret F, Buhk C, Ojeda F, Luna B, Moreno JM, Rodrigo A, Espelta JM, Palacio S, Fernandez-Santos B, Fernandes PM, Pausas JG (2009) Fire-related traits for plant species of the Mediterranean Basin. Ecology 90:1420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podlussány A, Jermy T, Szentesi Á (2001) On the leguminous host plants of seed predator weevils (Coleoptera: Apionidae, Curculionidae) in Hungary. Acta Zool Acad Sci Hungaricae 47:285–299

    Google Scholar 

  • Price JN, Wright BR, Gross CL, Whalley WRDB (2010) Comparison of seedling emergence and seed extraction techniques for estimating the composition of soil seed banks. Methods Ecol Evol 1:151–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quintana R, Cruz A, Fernández-González F, Moreno JM (2004) Time of germination and establishment success after fire of three obligate seeders in a Mediterranean shrub land of central Spain. J Biogeogr 31:241–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rego FC, Bunting SC, Silva JM (1991) Changes in understory vegetation following prescribed fire in maritime pine forests. Forest Ecol Manag 41:21–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rivas M, Rivas O, Casal M (2006) Influence of heat and smoke treatments on the germination of six leguminous shrubby species. Int J Wildl Fire 15:73–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez E, Peco B, Gurrea P (2011) Effect of Scotch broom, Cytisus scoparius, pod size and patch density on Exapion fuscirostre (Coleoptera, Apionidae) seed weevil oviposition. Aust Entomol Soc 51:127–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silva J, Moreira F, Vaz P, Catry F, Ferreira P (2009) Assessing the relative fire proneness of different forest types in Portugal. Plant Biosyst 143:597–608

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson K, Band SR (1997) Survival of a lowland heathland seed bank after a 33-year burial. Seed Sci Res 7:409–411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torres I, Céspedes B, Pérez B, Moreno J (2013) Spatial relationships between the standing vegetation and the soil seed bank in a fire-prone encroached dehesa in Central Spain. Plant Ecol 214:195–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Traba J, Azcárate FM, Peco B (2004) From what depth do seeds emerge? A soil seed bank experiment with Mediterranean grassland species. Seed Sci Res 14:297–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valbuena L, Trabaud L (2001) Contribution of the soil seed bank to post-fire recovery of a heathland. Plant Ecol 152:175–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valbuena L, Vera ML (2002) The effects of thermal scarification and seed storage on germination of four heathland species. Plant Ecol 161:137–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valbuena L, Nuñez R, Calvo L (2001) The seed bank in Pinus stand regeneration in NW Spain after wildfire Web Ecol 2:22–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Vasques A, Maia P, Pedro M, Santos C, Vallejo VR, Keizer JJ (2012) Germination in five shrub species of Maritime Pine understory—does seed provenance matter? Ann For Sci 69:499–507

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vera DT, Martín RP, Oliva SR (2010) Effect of chemical and physical treatments on seed germination of Erica australis. Ann Bot Fenn 3847:353–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Paula Maia and Ana Vasques were funded through individual Ph.D. fellowships granted by FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) (SFRH/BD/42168/2007, SFRH/BD/47522/2008) and through individual research grants by the CASCADE project. A special thanks to Isabel Fernandes and Silvia Faria, for helping in the field sampling, and to Mariana Pedro for helping in the germination monitoring in the greenhouse. We fully acknowledge the commitment of the teams from CEIF-ADAI responsible for the execution of the experimental fire, as well as the Sapadores Florestais and Fire Brigade of Arganil. We also thank two anonymous reviewers by giving valuable comments that helped considerably improve the quality of this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, CESAM-Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    P. Maia

  2. Department of Environment and Planning, CESAM-Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    P. Maia, A. Vasques & J. J. Keizer

  3. CIDE-Desertification Research Center, CSIC, Madrid, Spain

    J. G. Pausas

  4. CEIF-Centre for Forest Fires Research, ADAI, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    D. X. Viegas

Authors
  1. P. Maia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. Vasques
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. G. Pausas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. D. X. Viegas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J. J. Keizer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. Maia.

Additional information

Communicated by Neal J. Enright.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

11258_2016_650_MOESM1_ESM.docx

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 25 kb). Supplementary material 1. Spearman correlations between the different fire severity estimations used in the present study. Supplementary material 2. List of species identified in the study. This list comprises the great majority of species identified in the vegetation and in the seed bank, through indirect assessment. Species in bold are the target species of the study, as well as the dominant in the community. CIS – Cistaceae; COM – Compositae; ERI – Ericaceae; GRA – Gramineae; LEG – Leguminosae; PIN – Pinaceae; PLA – Plantaginaceae; VIO – Violaceae

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Maia, P., Vasques, A., Pausas, J.G. et al. Fire effects on the seed bank of three Mediterranean shrubs: implications for fire management. Plant Ecol 217, 1235–1246 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-016-0650-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-016-0650-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation