High post-fire mortality of resprouting woody plants in Tasmanian Mediterranean-type vegetation
Áine Nicholson A , Lynda D. Prior A C , George L. W. Perry B and David M. J. S. Bowman A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.
B School of Environment, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
C Corresponding author. Email: lynda.prior@utas.edu.au
International Journal of Wildland Fire 26(6) 532-537 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF16211
Submitted: 1 December 2016 Accepted: 22 April 2017 Published: 26 May 2017
Abstract
Plant regeneration strategies are commonly dichotomised as ‘resprouter’ v. ‘non-resprouter’, but this fails to recognise that the extent and type of resprouting following fire disturbance vary within species. Here, we report a case of widespread mortality of resprouters following a fire that burnt 98% of an 80-km2 island in Bass Strait, Australia. A field survey, which assessed woody vegetation in 197 plots across the island, showed fire severity ranged from low to high, with crown defoliation occurring across 85% of the island. In total, 1826 of the 1831 woody stems in the burnt plots were top-killed. Only 7.5% resprouted, despite 89% of the stems belonging to species that have the capacity to resprout. Even in species with at least 5% resprouting, only 22% of top-killed stems resprouted. Resprouting rates were maximal (30%) at intermediate fire severity, and only 5 and 8% at the lowest and highest severity classes respectively. Our findings demonstrate the need to understand factors influencing resprouting, and to incorporate these when modelling vegetation recovery after wildfire.
Additional keywords: Australia, Clarke Island, fire severity, interval squeeze, persistence niche.
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