j.g. pausas' blog

Most pines open their cones and disperse their seeds soon after the cone is mature. In serotinous pines, cones do not open when mature; they remain closed for several years [1]. Because cones are produced every year, the closed (serotinous) cones accumulate in a canopy seed bank. When a fire occurs, the heat opens the cones and stimulates dispersal in the open post‑fire environment, ensuring high post‑fire recruitment [1]. A disadvantage of maintaining a canopy seed bank is that seeds become a year‑round food source for seed predators, such as squirrels. These predators can thereby reduce the post‑fire regeneration capacity of serotinous pines.

In a recent paper, we tested the effect of squirrels on the canopy seed bank of Pinus halepensis, a Mediterranean serotinous pine [2]. Comparing stands with and without squirrels, we found that cones in stands with squirrels had reduced seed‑to‑cone mass and fewer seeds per cone, suggesting the acquisition of a defence strategy. Despite this defence, we estimate that squirrels reduce the canopy seed bank, and therefore the post‑fire regeneration potential, by 66% [3].

References

[1] Lamont BB, Pausas JG, He T, Witkowski, ETF, Hanley ME. 2020. Fire as a selective agent for both serotiny and nonserotiny over space and time. Crit. Rev. Plant Sci. 39(2):140-172. [doi | pdf | suppl.]

[2] Hernández-Serrano A., Verdú M., González-Martínez S.C., Pausas J.G. 2013. Fire structures pine serotiny at different scales. Am. J. Bot. 100 (12): 2349-2356.  [doi | amjbot | pdf | supp.]

[3] Guiote C, Mezquida E.T, Pausas JG. 2026. Squirrels reduce post-fire regeneration potential in serotinous pines. Ann. Bot.  [doi | data | pdf]

Hummingbirds are among the most iconic birds of America, especially abundant in the tropics. They are very important pollinators (nectar feeders), thus their abundance and distribution are likely to affect hummingbird-pollinated plants, many of which are endemic or endangered. A recent review in western United States [1] suggests that most hummingbird species respond positively to wild or prescribed fire and thus, for the conservation of these emblematic birds, it is important to promote landscape mosaics, with early and mid postfire successional habitats, together with forest patches.

Here is a video by Contreras-Martínez et al. on hummingbirds and wildfires in Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve, Mexico [2]. The video is in Spanish; hummingbirds are ‘colibríes’ or ‘picaflores’

Créditos del vídeo:
Filmación y Edición: Carlos Armando Pacheco Contreras (Vidacinema)
Productor: Sarahy Contreras Martínez
Guión: Sarahy Contreras Martínez, Carlos Armando Pacheco Contreras & Oscar Cárdenas Hernández
Narración: Cesar Híjar Tejada
Investigación Científica: Sarahy Contreras Martínez (Colibríes) & Enrique Jardel Peláez (Fuego)
Música Original: Erick Ríos Vázquez
Mezcla de audio: Sognare Estudios
Also available at: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=869506306897201

References
[1] Alexander JD, Williams EJ, Gillespie CR, Contreras-Martínez S & Finch DM. 2020. Effects of restoration and fire on habitats and populations of western hummingbirds: A literature review. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-408. Fort Collins, CO, USDA, https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/59664

[2] Pausas JG 2016. Flammable Mexico. Internat. J. Wildland Fire 25: 711-713. [doi | pdf ]

[3] Other related videos: Burning for biodiversity | Fire & the Florida scrub | La huella del fuego | Fish & fire | 

[4] Other post on fire & fauna | fire & pollination | fire & Mexico |

In ecosystems with a dens vegetation, wildfires open the canopy and create an environment with more light and less competition. In such postfire conditions there is an increase in flowers, and thus, flower visitors are also likely to increase. In a recent article [1] we performed a meta-analysis to specifically evaluate the effect of fire (prescribed and wildfires) on pollinators from 65 studies in 21 countries across de globe. The overall effect of fire on abundance and richness of pollinators across all studies was positive. The positive effect was especially clear after wildfires and for the abundance and diversity of Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, etc.; the main group of pollinators), while Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) abundance showed a negative response. Short fire intervals also showed a negative effect on pollinators. In conclusion, pollinators are not only resilient to fire, but they tend to be promoted during the first postfire years. That is, fires by increasing the number of flowers, they also increase the number of flower visitors. It is also likely that this may have a positive cascading effects on other interacting species, like seed dispersers and predators. This is one of the mechanisms by which wildfires increase diversity. Pollinations is also one of the ecosystem services that fires can provide to humans [2].

 

Figure:  Weighted-mean effect sizes and 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals on abundance (closed circles) and richness (open circles) of pollinator taxa. This is for wildfire only. Sample sizes for each category are shown on the right of each effect. From [1].

References

[1] Carbone L.M., Tavella J., Pausas J.G., Aguilar R. 2019. A global synthesis of fire effects on pollinators. Global Ecology & Biogeography. [doi | pdf]

[2] Pausas J.G. & Keeley J.E. 2019. Wildfires as an ecosystem service. Frontiers in Ecology and Environment 17: 289-295. [doi | pdf | post]

Fire may disrupt plant-animal interactions. In antagonistic interactions, this disruption may benefit one of the interacting species; for instance, the reduction of a seed predator after fire can benefit the host plant [1]. The question is what happen in mutualistic interactions? Does fire disrupt mutualistic interactions generating negative consequences for the interacting species?

The Mediterranean dwarf palm Chamaerops humilis is a small dioecious palm native to the coastal shrublands of the western Mediterranean Basin. It has a specialized nursery pollination system involving the weevil Derelomus chamaeropis (Curculionidae). The plant resprouts quickly after fires (from apical buds) and produces flowers the following spring [2]. Given the specialized nursery pollination systems, this plant is a good candidate to have their pollination disrupted by fire.

In a recent study [3] we found that after fire, their pollinator (the weevil), was strongly reduced, but the fruit set remained unchanged. We documented a second beetle, a sap beetle (Meligethinus pallidulus, Nitidulidae), that were not affected by fire and acted as an effective pollinator (in a non-nursery pollination system). The temporary replacement by a sap beetle at burnt sites – an effective pollinator that had gone unnoticed until now – provided postfire reproductive resilience. That is, fire does not disrupt pollination in this specialized plant-insect system.

This is an example of the “nature’s jazz hypothesis”, i.e., species have considerable scope and capacity to adapt to each other and their environments and thereby may impart far more resilience to environmental stressors and disturbances that was once thought [4].

The dwarf palm Chamaerops humilis is well adapted to recurrent shrubland fires (i.e., of high intensity). It resprouts quickly after fire from surviving apical buds; it has rhizomes from where new stems can emerge after disturbance (I suppose this is why Humboldt mentioned this species as a social palm [2]); and its pollination is not jeopardized by fire.

The mediterranean dwarf palm Chamaerops humilis flowering (male) 2 months after fire; Valencia region, Spain (photo: JG Pausas).

References

[1] García Y., Castellanos M.C. & Pausas J.G. 2016. Fires can benefit plants by disrupting antagonistic interactions. Oecologia 182, 1165–1173. [doi | pdf | post]

[2] Postfire resprouting of Chamaerops humilis, jgpausas.blog.uv.es, 2016/03/18

[3] García, Y., Castellanos, M.C. & Pausas, J.G. 2018. Differential pollinator response underlies plant reproductive resilience after fires. Annals of Botany [doi | pdf]

[4] Schmitz, O. J. 2018. Species in ecosystems and all that jazz. – PLoS Biology 16: e2006285.

Update: paper now featured in Botany One: Plant-animal interactions deal with wildfires in unexpected ways

There are many plants that benefit from fire. Typical examples are those that despite they may be killed by fire, the germination of their seeds is stimulated by the fire (either by the heat or by the smoke; [1,2]), and thus they recruit very well (high offspring abundance) and often increase there population size postfire. Species with fire-stimulated flowering [3,4] also benefit from fire. In a recent paper [5] we propose that there may be another mechanisms by which fire may benefit plants: fire may remove seed predators, and thus create a window of opportunity for reproduction under a lower predation pressure (predator release hypothesis). This is specially applicable to specialist plant-insect interactions. We documented two cases: in Ulex parviflorus, a plant species with fire-stimulated germination [1,2], fire eliminated there specialist seed predator weevil (Exapion fasciolatum, Apioninae, Brentidae) and thus increased the available seed number for germination. Similarly, in Asphodelus ramosus, a fire-stimulated flowering species [3], fire reduced the specialist herbivore and seed predator (Horistus orientalis, Miridae, Hemiptera) and increased their fruit production. Thus, fire, by disrupting the antagonistic interactions, benefit plants; the temporal window of this predator release is likely to depend on fire size. For more information see reference [5].

Figure: Proportion of predated fruits of Ulex parviflorus in unburned sites (grey boxes) and at the edge and center of a recently burned area (white boxes), 2 and 3 years postfire. Data from two large wildfires in Valencia (2012) [5]; Edge and Center of the burned area refer to <1 km and >1.5 km from the fire perimeter, respectively. Photo of the seed predator (Exapion) from BioLib.cz.

References

[1] Moreira B., Tormo J., Estrelles E., Pausas J.G. 2010. Disentangling the role of heat and smoke as germination cues in Mediterranean Basin flora. Annals of Botany 105: 627-635. [pdf | doi | blog]

[2] Moreira B and Pausas JG. 2012. Tanned or Burned: the role of fire in shaping physical seed dormancy. PLoS ONE 7:e51523. [doi | plos | pdf]

[3] Postfire blooming of Asphodelous, jgpausas.blogs.uv.es/2014/04/05

[4] Postfire flowering: Narcissus, jgpausas.blogs.uv.es/2015/05/02

[5] García Y., Castellanos M.C. & Pausas J.G. 2016. Fires can benefit plants by disrupting antagonistic interactions. Oecologia 182: 1165–1173. [doi | pdf] <- New!!