Post-fire resprout in an endangered and narrow endemic shrub from rupestrian grasslands, Serra do Cipó, southeastern Brazil
Although there is evidence that the vegetation from rupestrian grasslands is resilient to fire, investigations about the effects of increasing frequency of anthropogenic fires in the rare and endemic plants from this ecosystem are still incipient. In this study, we monitored the post-fire resproutin...
| Published in: | Neotropical Biology and Conservation |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | Portuguese |
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Neotropical Biology and Conservation
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://revistas.unisinos.br/index.php/neotropical/article/view/nbc.2017.122.07 https://doi.org/10.4013/nbc.2017.122.07 |
| Summary: | Although there is evidence that the vegetation from rupestrian grasslands is resilient to fire, investigations about the effects of increasing frequency of anthropogenic fires in the rare and endemic plants from this ecosystem are still incipient. In this study, we monitored the post-fire resprouting of the endemic and endangered shrub species Coccoloba cereifera Schwacke (Polygonaceae) from rupestrian grasslands, southeastern Brazil. Five months after the fire 100% of the monitored individuals resprouted. However, one year after the fire, the burned plants had the ramet length 24% lower and number of leaves 53.5% smaller in relation to unburned plants. Burned plants showed a much higher relative growth rate in number of leaves and much lower reproductive investment compared to unburned plants. Although the studied species showed a high ability to resprout after fire, the pattern of vegetative growth and reproductive investment showed by the burned plants suggested that the increasing frequency of anthropogenic fires represents a serious threat to C. cereifera.Keywords: Coccoloba cereifera, conservation, Espinhaço Range, plant growth, reproductive phenology. Embora existam evidências de que a vegetação dos campos rupestres seja resiliente à passagem do fogo, são incipientes as investigações sobre os efeitos da crescente frequência de incêndios de origem antrópica em plantas raras e endêmicas desse ecossistema. Neste estudo, monitoramos o rebrotamento pós-fogo da espécie Coccoloba cereifera Schwacke (Polygonaceae), um arbusto ameaçado e endêmico dos campos rupestres do sudeste do Brasil. Cinco meses após o incêndio, rebrotaram 100% dos indivíduos monitorados. Entretanto, um ano após o incêndio, as plantas queimadas ainda apresentaram comprimento da rameta 24% inferior e número de folhas 53,5% inferior em relação ao porte das plantas não queimadas. As plantas queimadas apresentaram taxa de crescimento relativo em número de folhas muito superior e investimento reprodutivo muito inferior em comparação com as plantas não queimadas. Embora a espécie estudada demonstre alta capacidade de rebrotamento pós-fogo, o padrão de crescimento vegetativo e investimento reprodutivo apresentado pelas plantas rebrotadas indica que a crescente frequência de incêndios antrópicos represente uma séria ameaça para C. cereifera.Palavras-chave: Cadeia do Espinhaço, conservação, Coccoloba cereifera, crescimento de plantas, fenologia reprodutiva. |
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