Comparative Fire Ecology of Tropical Savanna and Forest Trees

1. Fire is important in the dynamics of savanna-forest boundaries, often maintaining a balance between forest advance and retreat. 2. We performed a comparative ecological study to understand how savanna and forest species differ in traits related to fire tolerance. We compared bark thickness, root...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Functional ecology 2003-12, Vol.17 (6), p.720-726
Main Authors: Hoffmann, William A., Orthen, Birgit, Paula Kielse Vargas Do Nascimento
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bark
Biological and medical sciences
Biological taxonomies
carbohydrates
cerrado
Forest and land fires
Forest ecology
Forest fires
Forest trees
Forests
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
gallery forest
Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection
Savannas
Species
TNC
Trees
Tropical forests
Weather damages. Fires
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Summary:1. Fire is important in the dynamics of savanna-forest boundaries, often maintaining a balance between forest advance and retreat. 2. We performed a comparative ecological study to understand how savanna and forest species differ in traits related to fire tolerance. We compared bark thickness, root and stem carbohydrates, and height of reproductive individuals within 10 congeneric pairs, each containing one savanna and one forest species. 3. Bark thickness of savanna species averaged nearly three times that of forest species, thereby reducing the risk of stem death during fire. The allometric relationship between bark thickness and stem diameter differed between these two tree types, with forest species tending to have a larger allometric coefficient. 4. The height of reproductive individuals of forest species averaged twice that of congeneric savanna species. This should increase the time necessary for forest species to reach reproductive size, thereby reducing their capacity to reach maturity in the time between consecutive fires. 5. There was no difference in total non-structural carbohydrate content of stems or roots between savanna and forest species, though greater allocation to total root biomass by savanna species probably confers greater capacity to resprout following fire. 6. These differences in fire-related traits may largely explain the greater capacity of savanna species to persist in the savanna environment.
ISSN:0269-8463
1365-2435
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2435.2003.00796.x