Fynbos plants use a variety of strategies to survive fires. Some re-sprout from underground storage organs, some store their seeds in woody cones that only open after fire, and others rely on ants to bury their seeds, which require specific chemical signals found in wood smoke to germinate. Linked to these diverse survival strategies, plants also differ in their ideal inter-fire interval. Some species, like the fire lilies, emerge immediately after a fire, flower and set seed, then remain dormant until the next fire. For them, frequent fires are beneficial. Others, like some proteas, are obligate re-seeders that require sufficient time between fires for their seeds to germinate and grow into plants large enough to produce a good crop of seeds before the next fire.
Botanists still debate the ideal fire frequency, but it is generally thought to be in the range of 12 to 20 years, depending on rainfall – higher rainfall generally leads to faster regrowth and thus shorter intervals between fires. However, it is clear that at a landscape scale, plant diversity is maximised by having a mosaic of different-aged stands of fynbos.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July - August 2020 من African Birdlife.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July - August 2020 من African Birdlife.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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