Dispersal: The eighth fire seasonality effect on plants

Date: 15, Jan, 2020
Author(s):   Keith, D.A., Dunker, B., Driscoll, D.A.
Publisher: Trends in Ecology & Evolution

In their recent article in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Miller et al. provide a much-needed review of the mechanisms of plant population responses to variations in fire season. They identified seven population processes in plant life cycles for which there is evidence of sensitivity to fire season. These include effects of fire season on adult survival and growth, postfire seedling establishment, and five mechanisms related to propagule availability (postfire flowering and seed production, prefire seed bank availability, juvenile growth and maturity, seed heat tolerance, and postfire seed survival). Here, we suggest an eighth mechanism of fire seasonality effects involving propagule dispersal.