Water relations and growth of shrubs before and after fire in a semi-arid woodland.

Abstract

Plant water relations and shoot growth rate of shrubs resprouting after fire or unburnt were measured in a semi-arid poplar box (Eucalyptus populnea) shrub woodland of eastern Australia. In vegetation unburnt for about 60 years, the dawn xylem water potential (ψx) of the dominant shrub species was about-1.0 MPa when the soil was wet and-8.0 MPa when the soil was very dry. At any one time, the dominant shrub species,Eremophila mitchellii, E. sturtii, Geijera parviflora andCassia nemophila, were similar in ψx butAcacia aneura andDodonaea viscosa were consistently higher in ψx than this group when the soil was moist and lower when the soil was dry. The dominant tree species,Eucalyptus populnea andE. intertexta, appeared to have access to additional water beneath the hardpan which is located 60-80 cm below the surface. When shrubs were under extreme water stress (ψx of-8 MPa), the trees had a ψx of-3 to-3.6 MPa. Following a fire, both ψx and leaf stomatal conductance (g s) of resprouting shrubs were higher for about 5 years than comparable-aged unburnt vegetation, with relative differences in ψx increasing with drought stress. Elongation rate of resprouts was positively linked to prefire shrub height in 3 of 4 species. However, shrubs resprouting after high intensity fires had substantially higher rates of shoot elongation than after low intensity fires which were in turn higher than for foliar expansion of unburnt shrubs. It is concluded that the growth rate of resprouting shrubs is primarily determined by physiological/ morphological factors associated with plant size but is also assisted by greater availability of water and possibly nutrients for a period after fire.