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Fire‐sensitive species dominate seed rain after fire suppression: Implications for plant community diversity and woody encroachment in the Cerrado
Author(s) -
Mariano Vanessa,
Rebolo Isabele F.,
Christianini Alexander V.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
biotropica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.813
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1744-7429
pISSN - 0006-3606
DOI - 10.1111/btp.12614
Subject(s) - tropical savanna climate , fire ecology , woody plant , fire regime , prescribed burn , agroforestry , abundance (ecology) , geography , ecology , rainforest , tropics , plant community , diversity (politics) , environmental science , forestry , biology , ecological succession , ecosystem , sociology , anthropology
Woody encroachment is becoming common in tropical savannas. We studied natural seed rain and performed seed addition experiments in a Brazilian savanna that had not been burned for several decades. We found greater abundance of fire‐sensitive species in the seed rain, likely contributing to woody encroachment. Flexible fire management policies that allow for natural and prescribed fires may be required to maintain savanna diversity.