BA: 

19970605473

ET: 

Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis ) postfire regeneration: the role of canopy and soil seed banks.

AU: 

Daskalakou, E. N.; Thanos, C. A.

AA: 

Department of Botany, University of Athens, Athens 15784, Greece.

SO: 

International Journal of Wildland Fire, 1996, Vol.6, No.2, pp.59-66, 20 ref.

AB: 

Cone opening and seed dispersal were investigated in unburned forests of Attica, Greece. Pinus halepensis trees maintained a significant percentage of the yearly cone crop (40-80%) closed, thus creating a persistent, canopy seed bank. Full viability of enclosed seeds was maintained for at least three years in canopy storage; moreover, preliminary results concerning the viability of seeds enclosed within the cones for 4 to >50 years showed a gradual reduction of both final percentage and rate of germination. Nevertheless, cones of up to 20 years of age contained a considerable fraction of germinable seeds. On the other hand, Aleppo pine forms only a short-lived (transient) soil seed bank; this bank was particularly abundant after a fire, as a result of the fire-induced cone opening. The germinable seed portion, although quite important prior to the start of the rainy season, was rapidly depleted, and at the end of the rainy season it was virtually absent in both burned and unburned forests. It is concluded that postfire Aleppo pine seedling recruitment takes place almost exclusively during the first year after the fire and depends upon the germination of seeds in a transient soil bank which is produced by the postfire dispersal of pine seeds stored in the canopy seed bank.

DE: 

seed banks; cones; natural regeneration; seed germination; viability; seed dispersal; forest fires; seeds

OD: 

Pinus halepensis

GL: 

Greece

UP: 

Pinus; Pinaceae; Pinopsida; gymnosperms; Spermatophyta; plants; Mediterranean Region; Developed Countries; European Union Countries; OECD Countries; Southern Europe; Europe

IS: 

1049-8001

CC: 

KK130;
PP720;
JJ100

LA: 

English

DT: 

Journal article

SC: 

Forestry Abstracts; Seed Abstracts