Generalised seed mortality driven by heat shock in woody plants from Mediterranean Chile
Korina Ocampo-Zuleta
A B C , Susana Gómez-González C D E and Susana Paula A C F *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja, 5090000 Valdivia, Chile.
B Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias mención Ecología y Evolución, Escuela de Graduados, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja, 5090000 Valdivia, Chile.
C Center for Fire and Socioecological Systems (FireSES), Universidad Austral de Chile, Campus Isla Teja, 5090000 Valdivia, Chile.
D Departamento de Biología-IVAGRO, Universidad de Cádiz, Campus Río San Pedro, 11510 Puerto Real, Spain.
E Center for Climate and Resilience Research (CR)2, Blanco Encalada 2002, 8370449 Santiago, Chile.
F Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), Chile, Victoria 631, Barrio Universitario, Concepción, Chile.
* Correspondence to: spaula.julia@uach.cl
International Journal of Wildland Fire 31(11) 1080-1088 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF22027
Submitted: 9 March 2022 Accepted: 7 September 2022 Published: 28 September 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of IAWF.
Abstract
Background: Wildfires have shaped plant traits and ecosystems worldwide. Most research on the relevance of fire on plant evolution comes from Mediterranean-type ecosystems (MTEs), where a great proportion of the studied species have fire-stimulated germination. However, seed fire ecology is widely unknown for the woody flora of the Chilean matorral, the only MTE where natural fires are infrequent owing to the scarcity of non-anthropogenic ignition sources.
Aim: The study aimed to evaluate whether seed sensitivity to heat is generalised among the woody species of the matorral.
Methods: We performed heat shock experiments on the seeds of 21 woody plant species not previously assessed. These species and those from previous studies were classified according to their response as stimulated, tolerant and inhibited. The preponderance of any of these categories was statistically evaluated.
Key results: Exposure to 100°C for 5 min significantly decreased seed survival in all studied species.
Conclusions: Seed persistence to fire is less common than previously reported among woody plants from the Chilean MTE.
Implications: Increased wildfire events in the future may erode the genetic diversity of the Chilean flora. Germplasm banks may become crucial in post-fire restoration programs in this ecoregion, where the landscape has become increasingly flammable.
Keywords: central Chile, germination, heat shock, matorral, Mediterranean-type ecosystems, seed viability, wildfires, woody plants.
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