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The interaction of temperature, water availability and fire cues regulates seed germination in a fire-prone landscape

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Abstract

Ambient temperature and water availability regulate seasonal timing of germination. In fire-prone landscapes, the role of fire-related cues in affecting the range of temperatures and water potentials (ψs) across which germination can occur is poorly known, especially in non-Mediterranean landscapes. We examined interactive effects of temperature (15 or 25°C), ψ (0 to −0.9 MPa), and fire-related cues (heat and smoke) on germination for seeds of three shrub species from fire-prone southeastern Australia. Incubation temperature affected germination of untreated seeds of Kunzea ambigua and Kunzea capitata (Myrtaceae) (reduction at 25°C), but germination was uniformly low in Epacris obtusifolia (Ericaceae). Decreasing ψ reduced germination across both incubation temperatures. Fire cues increased germination at both incubation temperatures and across ψs, although in Kunzea the increase was smaller and occurred over a narrower range of ψs at 25°C. Hydrotime analysis suggested that fire cues reduced the amount of water necessary for germination of Kunzea seeds. Post-fire germination of the three study species may occur during the warm season, although it is reduced and confined to wet periods for the two Kunzea species. Warm season germination of the study species is consistent with a trade-off between the increased risk of failure of a cohort of seedlings, and benefits of early establishment of a cohort that may survive in an environment with aseasonal rainfall.

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Acknowledgments

This work was conducted with the financial assistance of an Australian Postgraduate Industry Award to P. B. T., as part of an Australian Research Council SPIRT Grant, and the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service as the industry partner. Editors Russell K. Monson and David A. Pyke improved the manuscript. Experiments comply with the current laws of Australia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecology and Environment Research Group, Hawkesbury Campus (K12), University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South, DC, 1797, Australia

    Paul Bengt Thomas & E. Charles Morris

  2. Climate Change Science, Department of Environment and Climate Change (NSW), PO Box 1967, Hurstville, NSW, 2220, Australia

    Tony D. Auld

  3. Centre For Plants and the Environment, Hawkesbury Campus, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South, DC, 1797, Australia

    E. Charles Morris & Anthony M. Haigh

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  1. Paul Bengt Thomas
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  2. E. Charles Morris
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Correspondence to Paul Bengt Thomas.

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Communicated by Dave Pyke.

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Thomas, P.B., Morris, E.C., Auld, T.D. et al. The interaction of temperature, water availability and fire cues regulates seed germination in a fire-prone landscape. Oecologia 162, 293–302 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1456-0

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