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High post-fire mortality of resprouting woody plants in Tasmanian Mediterranean-type vegetation


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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.
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: | Nicholson, A and Prior, LD and Perry, GLW and Bowman, DMJS |
Keywords: | Australia, Clarke Island, fire severity, interval squeeze, persistence niche |
Journal or Publication Title: | International Journal of Wildland Fire |
Publisher: | CSIRO Publishing |
ISSN: | 1049-8001 |
DOI / ID Number: | 10.1071/WF16211 |
Copyright Information: | Copyright 2017 IAWF |
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