Post-fire reproduction of herbs at a savanna-gallery forest boundary in Distrito Federal, Brazil

K G Massi,C U O Eugênio,A C Franco

doi:10.1590/1519-6984.06416

Abstract

In Cerrado, studies of post-fire vegetation recovery show that some herbaceous species are able to flower shortly after fires. However, these were mainly short-term studies that focused on grasslands and savannas. Little is known about the effects of fire on ground layer of forests that border the savannas in Central Brazil. Thus, an accidental burning gave us the opportunity to describe the reproductive activity of the ground layer vegetation after a fire event along a savanna-forest boundary at the IBGE Ecological Reserve, Brasília, Brazil. During the 16-month of the inventory, we registered 170 herbaceous species flowering or fruiting, of which 52 species (31%) may have been influenced by fire that changed their times of reproduction. In the savanna plots reproduction peaked at the end of the rainy season. Of the total number of reproducing species, 90 species occurred only in the savanna and four in the forest. Five herbs were recorded in the forest, savanna and border environments. Late dry season fire probably lead the majority of herbaceous species to have their reproduction spread throughout the study time.

Highlights

Fire has been occurring in the Brazilian savannas (Cerrado) for 10 million years and is associated with physiognomies where grasses and herbs are present (Simon et al, 2009; Simon and Pennington, 2012)
Tree species of gallery forests are less tolerant to fire than savanna species (Hoffmann et al, 2012), and little is known about what happens with the forest understory after a burning event, we could expect a fire-sensitive forest understory when compared to a fire-adapted cerrado ground-layer
The same result was found in flora surveys realized in post-fire grassland areas in Distrito Federal (Munhoz and Amaral, 2010) and Mato Grosso do Sul (Neves and Damasceno-Júnior, 2011)

Summary

Introduction

Fire has been occurring in the Brazilian savannas (Cerrado) for 10 million years and is associated with physiognomies where grasses and herbs are present (Simon et al, 2009; Simon and Pennington, 2012). Cerrados usually border more closed vegetation types, as forests, and if a burning happens, fire will affect plants from both cerrado and forest. Tree species of gallery forests are less tolerant to fire than savanna species (Hoffmann et al, 2012), and little is known about what happens with the forest understory after a burning event, we could expect a fire-sensitive forest understory when compared to a fire-adapted cerrado ground-layer.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion