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Archive for January, 2017

A new pyroendemic annual plant

January 21st, 2017 No comments

Recently, the annual plant Chaenorhinum rubrifolium (Plantaginaceae) has been recorded for the first time in Turkey, and it was found in a recently burned area only (8 months after a fire); no individuals were found outside the burn perimeter [1, 2]. To understand the mechanisms of germination, the authors performed a range of germination tests in which seeds were submitted to different fire-related treatments like heat shocks, smoke treatments, and the application of some chemical compounds present in the smoke (NO3, karrikinolide) or analogue to those in the smoke (mandelonitrile, a cyanohydrin type compound). The results are pretty clear (Figure below): the chemical compound of smoke break their seed dormancy and stimulates the germination [1].

Overall C. rubrifolium is a clear example of a postfire seeder species, but given their strong dependency of fire, at least in Turkey, we can call it a pyroendemic plant, that is, a plant in which seedling germination and successful recruitment is restricted to immediate postfire environments [3]. Pyroendemic annuals are common in mediterranean-climate regions [4], but they have been little studied in the Mediterranean basin [5,6].

It would be interesting to study the germination of this species from other localities (e.g., it is not rare in Spain); previous research comparing plant regeneration traits from shared species between the East and the West of the Mediterranean basin show that intraspecific variability is higher at the local scale than between distant regions [7]. At least in the West, there are some varieties of C. rubrifolium that are unlikely to be pyroendemics as the ones occurring in dune systems.
çagatay-pyroendemic-smoke
Figure: Summary of the germination response of Chaenorhinum rubrifolium to fire-related treatments: Control (untreated seeds), Heat (a range of heat shocks were tested), Smoke (mean value from a range of smoke concentrations), and different chemical compounds related to smoke: NO3 (nitrate), MAN (mandelonitrile), and KAR1 (karrikinolide). Seeds were 4 month-old; the germination for Smoke and KAR1 treatments were nearly 100% when using 2 year-old seeds (after-ripening). For details see [1].

References

[1] Tavşanoğlu Ç, Ergan G, Çatav ŞS, Zare G, Küçükakyüz K, Özüdoğru B. 2017. Multiple fire-related cues stimulate germination in Chaenorhinum rubrifolium (Plantaginaceae), a rare annual in the Mediterranean Basin. Seed Sci. Res. [doi]

[2] Zare G., Özüdoğru B., Ergan G., Tavşanoğlu Ç. (submitted) Taxonomic notes on the genus Chaenorhinum (Plantaginaceae) in Turkey.

[3] Keeley JE, Pausas JG. 2017. Evolution of ‘smoke’ induced seed germination in pyroendemic plants. South African J. Bot. [doi | pdf]

[4] Keeley JE, Bond WJ, Bradstock RA, Pausas JG, Rundel PW. 2012. Fire in Mediterranean ecosystems: ecology, evolution and management. Cambridge University Press. [the book]

[5] Moreira B, Pausas JG. 2017. Shedding light through the smoke on the germination of Mediterranean Basin flora. South African J. Bot. [doi | pdf] | post]

[6] Tormo J, Moreira B, Pausas JG. 2014. Field evidence of smoke-stimulated seedling emergence and establishment in Mediterranean Basin flora. J. Veget. Sci. 25: 771-777. [doi | wiley | pdf | post]

[7] Moreira B, Tavşanoglu Ç, Pausas JG. 2012. Local versus regional intraspecific variability in regeneration traits. Oecologia 168: 671-677. [doi | pdf | post]

 

Manual para la medición de caracteres funcionales de plantas

January 4th, 2017 No comments

En 2003 se publicó el  primer manual para la medición estandarizada de caracteres funcionales de plantas [1], y en 2013 se realizó una segunda versión más completa y actualizada [2]. Estas dos versiones se publicaron en inglés en la revista Australian Journal of Botany. Ahora, la misma revista, publica la traducción de la segunda versión (2013) en español y la pone disponible a todo el mundo.

Versión en inglés: Handbook  y  supplementay material  [2]

Versión en español: Manual  y  material suplementario  [3]

Original en:  Australian Journal of Botany

 

Emas2009Fotografía: Midiendo caracteres funcionales en plantas de la sabana brasileña (cerrdao) [4]

 

Referencias

[1] Cornelissen, J.H.C., Lavorel, S., Garnier, E., Díaz, S., Buchmann, N., Gurvich, D.E., Reich, P.B., Ter Steege, H., Morgan, H.D., van der Heijden, M.G.A., Pausas, J.G. & Poorter, H. 2003. Handbook of protocols for standardised and easy measurement of plant functional traits worldwide. Aust. J. Bot. 51: 335-380. [doipdf | CSIRO pub]

[2] Pérez-Harguindeguy N, Díaz S, Garnier E, Lavorel S, Poorter H, Jaureguiberry P, Bret-Harte MS, Cornwell WK, Craine JM, Gurvich DE, Urcelay C, Veneklaas EJ, Reich PB, Poorter L, Wright IJ, Ray P, Enrico L, Pausas JG, de Vos AC, Buchmann N, Funes G, Quetier F, Hodgson JG, Thompson K, Morgan HD, ter Steege H, van der Heijden MGA, Sack L, Blonder B, Poschlod P, Vaieretti V, Conti G, Staver AC, Aquino S, Cornelissen JHC. 2013. New handbook for standardised measurement of plant functional traits worldwide. Australian Journal of Botany 61(3): 167-234. [doi | pdf | Suppl. Mat.]

[3] Pérez-Harguindeguy N, Díaz S, Garnier E, Lavorel S, Poorter H, Jaureguiberry P, Bret-Harte MS, Cornwell WK, Craine JM, Gurvich DE, Urcelay C, Veneklaas EJ, Reich PB, Poorter L, Wright IJ, Ray P, Enrico L, Pausas JG, de Vos AC, Buchmann N, Funes G, Quetier F, Hodgson JG, Thompson K, Morgan HD, ter Steege H, van der Heijden MGA, Sack L, Blonder B, Poschlod P, Vaieretti V, Conti G, Staver AC, Aquino S, Cornelissen JHC. 2013. Nuevo manual para la medición estandarizada de caracteres funcionales de plantas. Australian Journal of Botany 61(3): 167-234. [doi | pdf | Mat. Supl.]

[4] Dantas V., Batalha MA & Pausas JG. 2013. Fire drives functional thresholds on the savanna-forest transition. Ecology 94:2454-2463. [doi | pdf | appendix]

Scale mismatch in ecology

January 2nd, 2017 No comments

A recent paper suggested that fire-vegetation feedback processes may be unnecessary to explain tree cover patterns in tropical ecosystems and that climate-fire determinism is an alternative possibility [1]. This conclusion was based on the fact that it is possible to reproduce observed broad scale patterns in tropical regions (e.g., a trimodal frequency distribution of tree cover) using a simple model that does not explicitly incorporate fire-vegetation feedback processes. We argue that this reasoning is misleading because these two mechanisms (feedbacks vs fire-climate control) operate at different spatial and temporal scales [2]. It is not possible to evaluate the role of a process acting at fine scales (e.g., fire-vegetation feedbacks) using a model designed for reproducing regional-scale pattern; i.e., there is a mismatch between the scale of the question and the scale of the approach for addressing the question. While the distribution of forest and savannas are partially determined by climate, the most parsimonious explanation for their environmental overlaps (as alternative states) is the existence of feedback processes [3,4], as has been shown in many ecosystems, not only tropical ones [4]. Climate is unlikely to be an alternative to feedback processes; rather, climate and fire-vegetation feedbacks are complementary processes acting at different spatial and temporal scales [2].
Fig2b
Figure: Fire activity (based on remotely sensed data) for savannas and forests located in the range of environmental conditions where both occurs, for Africa and South America (Afrotropics and Neotropics, respectively). From [2,3].

References
[1] Good, P., Harper, A., Meesters, A., Robertson, E. & Betts, R. (2016) Are strong fire–vegetation feedbacks needed to explain the spatial distribution of tropical tree cover? Global Ecol. and Biogeogr. 25, 16-25.

[2] Pausas J.G. & Dantas V.L. 2017. Scale matters: Fire-vegetation feedbacks are needed to explain tropical tree cover at the local sacle. Global Ecol. and Biogeogr. [doiwiley | pdf]

[3] Dantas V.L., Hirota M., Oliveira R.S., Pausas J.G. 2016. Disturbance maintains alternative biome states. Ecology Letters 19: 12-19. [doi | wiley | pdf | suppl | blog]

[4] Pausas, J.G. 2015. Alternative fire-driven vegetation states. J. Veget. Sci. 26:4-6. [doi | pdf | suppl.] | blog]