Centro de Estudios Ambientales del Mediterráneo (CEAM), Parque Tecnológico, 46980, Paterna, Valencia, Spain.
Ann Bot. 2010 Apr;105(4):627-35. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcq017. Epub 2010 Feb 24.
The role of fire as a germination cue for Mediterranean Basin (MB) plants is still unclear. The current idea is that heat stimulates germination mainly in Cistaceae and Fabaceae and that smoke has a limited role as a post-fire germination cue, in comparison with other Mediterranean-type ecosystems (MTEs), suggesting that fire-stimulated germination is less relevant in the MB than in other MTEs. However, recent studies showed that the assembly of Mediterranean plant communities is strongly driven by post-fire germination, suggesting an important role for fire as a germination cue. We hypothesize that both heat and smoke have important effects on the different post-fire recruitment processes of MB species (e.g. level and rate of germination and initial seedling growth).
To ascertain the role of heat and smoke in the post-fire germination response of MB woody plants, a germination experiment was performed with seven heat and two smoke treatments on 30 MB woody species from seven different families, including species with water-permeable seeds and species with water-impermeable seeds.
Heat stimulated the germination (probability and rate) of 21 species and smoke in eight species, out of the 30 species studied. In addition, six species showed enhanced initial seedling growth after the smoke treatments.
The results suggest that both heat and smoke are important germination cues in a wide range of MB woody species and that fire-cued germination in woody plants of the MB may be as important as in other MTEs.
火作为地中海盆地（MB）植物萌发的 cues 作用仍不清楚。目前的观点是，热量主要刺激 Cistaceae 和 Fabaceae 中的种子萌发，而与其他地中海型生态系统（MTEs）相比，烟雾作为火灾后萌发的 cues 的作用有限，这表明在 MB 中火刺激的萌发不如在其他 MTEs 中重要。然而，最近的研究表明，地中海植物群落的组装主要受到火灾后萌发的驱动，这表明火作为萌发 cues 具有重要作用。我们假设热量和烟雾对 MB 物种的不同火灾后繁殖过程（例如萌发水平和速率以及初始幼苗生长）都有重要影响。
为了确定热量和烟雾在 MB 木本植物火灾后萌发反应中的作用，我们对来自七个不同科的 30 种 MB 木本植物进行了 30 种不同的热和两种烟雾处理的萌发实验，包括具有透水种子和不透水种子的物种。
热量刺激了 21 种植物的萌发（概率和速率），烟雾刺激了 8 种植物的萌发。此外，在 6 种受烟雾处理的物种中，初始幼苗生长得到了增强。
结果表明，热量和烟雾都是 MB 木本植物广泛种类的重要萌发 cues，MB 木本植物中火 cues 引发的萌发可能与其他 MTEs 一样重要。
