Response of soil seed bank to a prescribed burning in a subtropical pine–oak forest
Susana Zuloaga-Aguilar A , Alma Orozco-Segovia B , Oscar Briones C D and Enrique Jardel Pelaez A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Departamento de Ecología y Manejo de Recursos Naturales. Universidad de Guadalajara-CUCSUR. Avenida Independencia Nacional 151, Código Postal 41900, Autlán de Navarro, Jalisco, México.
B Instituto de Ecología, Departamento de Ecología Funcional, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 70-275, Avenida Universidad 3000, Ciudad Universitaria, Código Postal 04510 México, Distrito Federal, México.
C Instituto de Ecología, Asociación Civil, Red de Biología Evolutiva, Km 2.5 Antigua carretera a Coatepec No. 351, Congregación El Haya, Xalapa Ver, Código Postal, 91070, México.
D Corresponding author. Email: oscar.briones@inecol.mx
International Journal of Wildland Fire 25(9) 946-954 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF15194
Submitted: 4 March 2015 Accepted: 17 May 2016 Published: 11 July 2016
Abstract
Prescribed burning is a management instrument applied to reduce the risk of fire and favour revegetation. Our objective was to generate information about the dynamics of post-fire regeneration via the soil seed bank (SSB), for fire management in subtropical forests. Samples taken at soil depths of 0–3cm, 3–6 cm and 6–10 cm before and 5 h after a prescribed burn showed that the fire immediately increased the number of germinable seeds and species in a Mexican pine–oak forest. Most of the germinable seeds were from species in genera with small seeds exhibiting physical or physiological dormancy, and that are tolerant or require fire for germination. Fire increased the number of germinable seeds during the wet season and the number of species was greater in the area control at 0–6-cm soil depth after 1 year; so that the fire modified the SSB seasonal pattern. Species diversity was not altered and was dominated by perennial herbaceous and shrub species both before and 2 years after the fire. Although fire completely eliminated the aboveground biomass of the understorey vegetation, the SSB can promote regeneration and persistence of understorey vegetation following a prescribed surface fire of low severity for the ecosystem studied.
Additional keywords: experimental fire, forest regeneration, seed bank seasonal dynamics, seed germination.
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