Post-Fire Carbon Assimilation Rates and Specific Leaf Area of Species with Different Post-Fire Recovery Strategies
Poster Number
032
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Biology
Faculty Mentor
Jennifer Schafer, Ph.D.
Abstract
Plant species can recover after fire by seed recruitment or resprouting. Top-killed species resprout by redistributing carbon from below-ground reserves to above-ground shoots. We investigated carbon assimilation rates of species with different post-fire recovery strategies and hypothesized that species that recover only by resprouting, and depend solely on their below-ground carbon reserves to persist after fire, would have higher carbon assimilation rates than species that recover by resprouting and/or seed germination. We measured photosynthesis of post-fire resprouts of 11 species in scrubby flatwoods shrublands in Florida. We measured carbon assimilation rates and specific leaf area (SLA) of five to eight individuals of each species in sites approximately 11 months post-fire. We also measured total leaf area of six species (four shrubs and two palmettos). We found a significant difference in carbon assimilation rates among species when measured on a leaf area basis, but differences were not related to post-fire recovery strategy, and carbon assimilation rates were not higher in resprouters. When scaled to total plant leaf area, carbon assimilation rates did not differ between palmetto species, but did differ among shrub species due to differences in leaf area. SLA differed among species, and mean photosynthetic rates were positively correlated with mean SLA across species. Our results suggest that species that depend solely on below-ground carbon to support post-fire recovery do not require greater post-fire carbon assimilation to persist in fire-prone habitats than species that can recover via seed germination and/or that photosynthetic rates may be constrained by leaf-level traits.
Previously Presented/Performed?
Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Poster Session, Winthrop University, October 2018; South Carolina Academy of Science Annual Meeting, Florence, South Carolina, March 2019
Grant Support?
Supported by a grant from the Winthrop University Research Council
Start Date
12-4-2019 2:15 PM
End Date
April 2019
Post-Fire Carbon Assimilation Rates and Specific Leaf Area of Species with Different Post-Fire Recovery Strategies
Richardson Ballroom – DiGiorgio Campus Center
Plant species can recover after fire by seed recruitment or resprouting. Top-killed species resprout by redistributing carbon from below-ground reserves to above-ground shoots. We investigated carbon assimilation rates of species with different post-fire recovery strategies and hypothesized that species that recover only by resprouting, and depend solely on their below-ground carbon reserves to persist after fire, would have higher carbon assimilation rates than species that recover by resprouting and/or seed germination. We measured photosynthesis of post-fire resprouts of 11 species in scrubby flatwoods shrublands in Florida. We measured carbon assimilation rates and specific leaf area (SLA) of five to eight individuals of each species in sites approximately 11 months post-fire. We also measured total leaf area of six species (four shrubs and two palmettos). We found a significant difference in carbon assimilation rates among species when measured on a leaf area basis, but differences were not related to post-fire recovery strategy, and carbon assimilation rates were not higher in resprouters. When scaled to total plant leaf area, carbon assimilation rates did not differ between palmetto species, but did differ among shrub species due to differences in leaf area. SLA differed among species, and mean photosynthetic rates were positively correlated with mean SLA across species. Our results suggest that species that depend solely on below-ground carbon to support post-fire recovery do not require greater post-fire carbon assimilation to persist in fire-prone habitats than species that can recover via seed germination and/or that photosynthetic rates may be constrained by leaf-level traits.
