#Fire alters the #phenotype of individual #plants, potentially through #epigenetic mechanisms

New paper:
Phenotypic rebuilding after fire: Understanding within-individual variability in a Mediterranean shrub https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.70137
By Saiz-Blanco, @cmhmaliani et al @JEcology

@ecology @plants @botany @wildfirescience @plantscience @nature @epigenetics @biodiversity @evolution @ecologies #fireecology #resprouting

In #Spain it is not very common to have #fires of >1000 ha at 1500-1900 m altitude. An example from last summer is the fire at Boca-de-Huergano (#Riaño, #León). Much of the fire affected a young plantation of #Pinus #uncinata (not native to the area; not sure why it was planted!) and #Betula. Betula individuals are now #resprouting, but most shrubs are not.

@wildfirescience #FireEcology #postfire @ecology

Stipa tenacissima (#esparto grass) #resprouts very well after #fire; I wonder why there are a few individuals that fail to resprout (fire in 2021)

Left: #grassland (#steppe) #postfire with #Stipa tenacissima & #Anthyllis cytisoides (both #resprouting postfire)
Right: dead Stipa tenacissima

Cuevas de Almanzora, #Almería, SE #Spain #IFCuevasDeAlmanzora,
#fireecology #steppe @wildfirescience

Interesting paper suggesting that #European #broadleaved #forests originated from #fire-driven #savannas; the prevalence of #resprouting species is a legacy; shade-tolerance & winter-deciduous are #exaptations
https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12923 Biol. Rev. by Adie & Lawes

i.e. forests are an alternative state (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2019.11.003)

Note that many South American forests were also savannas, (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27749-9)

Food for thought!

#fireecology #savanna #forestecology #ecology @wildfirescience

Evolutionary Ecology of Fire - a review of the current state of the art just published in Ann Rev Ecol Evol Syst @AnnualReviews

How #fire shaped our #biodiversity in temperate and boreal forests, shrublands, savannas & grasslands across the globe?

https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102320-095612 | https://jgpausas.blogs.uv.es/2022/11/04/evolutionary-ecology-of-fire/

#evolutionary #ecology #fire #FireEcology #PlantEcology #PlantStrategies #evolution #resprouting #seeding #adaptation @wildfirescience