Many species in Mediterranean-type ecosystems regenerate after fire by seed germination from soil seed banks. Seed bank dynamics
of two of those obligate seeders,
Cistus monspeliensis and
Rosmarinus officinalis, were investigated in relation to stand age since fire in southwestern Portugal. Soil seed density, annual seed input, annual
seed losses through germination and seed persistence were compared between species at stands differing in age since fire (5,
10 and 35 years).
Soil seed density and seed input increased over the first decade after fire and were lowest at 35-year-old stands for C. monspeliensis. In R. officinalis, few seeds were produced and found in the soil at early stages, and maximum seed input and soil seed density were attained
at 35-year-old stands. Soil seed density was mostly driven by seed production in both species, which is largely dependent
on plant traits and population dynamics related to fire. Overall, stand age since fire had a negligible effect on seed germination,
seed persistence and viability. Ten to 39% of buried seeds were not recovered after 1 year, and viability of seeds recovered
was 97–100% for C. monspeliensis and only 0–3% for R. officinalis.
Variation in plant traits within the seeder syndrome was evidenced by this study. R. officinalis evidenced lower seed persistence, lower proportion of viable seed produced and lower density of viable soil seed than C. monspeliensis at any stage after fire. R. officinalis is expected to depend largely on previous year seed production for population replacement after fire.
Keywords Mediterranean species - Post-fire succession - Seed burial experiment - Seed persistence - Seed viability