Document Type
Article
Department or Administrative Unit
Biological Sciences
Publication Date
6-2008
Abstract
Forest seed dispersal is altered after fire. Using seed traps, we studied impacts of fire severity on timing of seed dispersal, total seed rain, and seed rain richness in patches of high and low severity fire and unburned Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests in the Fischer and Tyee fire complexes in the eastern Washington Cascades. Unburned plots had the lowest average seed production. The high severity fire patches in the Fischer Fire Complex had a higher total seed production than low severity fire patches of the same complex. At the Tyee Fire Complex, the total seed production for each of the two fire severities was similar, but the period of maximum seed dispersal was later for high severity than low severity fire. Seed rain at the Fischer Fire patches (sampled one year after the fire) was predominantly composed of annual species, while that of the Tyee Fire patches (sampled nine years after fire) was predominantly perennial species. Seed rain richness was greater in Tyee high severity patches than paired low severity fire patches. In these paired Tyee patches the average number of new seed species (species not found in the extant plot vegetation) was greater for high severity than low severity fire. Our results suggest that high severity fire plots are more porous to seed rain than low severity plots. Intact forest canopies may filter seed rain and reduce seed influx, while high severity fires are more open to invasion by seed dispersal.
Recommended Citation
Cottrell, T. R., Hessburg, P. F., & Betz, J. A. (2008). Seed Invasion Filters and Forest Fire Severity. Fire Ecology, 4(1), 87–100. https://doi.org/10.4996/fireecology.0401087
Journal
Fire Ecology
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright
Copyright © 2008, The Author(s)
Included in
Environmental Health and Protection Commons, Forest Management Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Plant Biology Commons
Comments
This article was originally published Open Access in Fire Ecology. The full-text article from the publisher can be found here.