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Comparative fire ecology of tropical savanna and forest trees

  1. William A. Hoffmann1,*,
  2. Birgit Orthen2,†,
  3. Paula Kielse Vargas do Nascimento1

Article first published online: 11 DEC 2003

DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2003.00796.x

Issue

Functional Ecology

Functional Ecology

Volume 17, Issue 6, pages 720–726, December 2003

Additional Information

How to Cite

Hoffmann, W. A., Orthen, B. and Nascimento, P. K. V. d. (2003), Comparative fire ecology of tropical savanna and forest trees. Functional Ecology, 17: 720–726. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2003.00796.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Departamento de Engenharia Florestal, Universidade de Brasília, Caixa Postal 04357, Brasília, DF 70919–970;

  2. 2

    Departamento de Botânica, Universidade de Brasília, Caixa Postal 04457, Brasília DF 70919–970

  1. †

    Present address: Institut für Ökologie der Pflanzen, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Hindenburgplatz 55, 48143 Münster, Germany.

* ‡Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: W.A. Hoffman, Department of Botany, Campus Box 7612, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7612, USA. E-mail: hoffmann@unb.br

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 11 DEC 2003
  2. Article first published online: 11 DEC 2003
  3. Received 4 April 2003; revised 5 July 2003; accepted 16 July 2003

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Keywords:

  • Bark;
  • carbohydrates;
  • TNC;
  • gallery forest;
  • cerrado

Summary

  • 1
    Fire is important in the dynamics of savanna–forest boundaries, often maintaining a balance between forest advance and retreat.
  • 2
    We performed a comparative ecological study to understand how savanna and forest species differ in traits related to fire tolerance. We compared bark thickness, root and stem carbohydrates, and height of reproductive individuals within 10 congeneric pairs, each containing one savanna and one forest species.
  • 3
    Bark thickness of savanna species averaged nearly three times that of forest species, thereby reducing the risk of stem death during fire. The allometric relationship between bark thickness and stem diameter differed between these two tree types, with forest species tending to have a larger allometric coefficient.
  • 4
    The height of reproductive individuals of forest species averaged twice that of congeneric savanna species. This should increase the time necessary for forest species to reach reproductive size, thereby reducing their capacity to reach maturity in the time between consecutive fires.
  • 5
    There was no difference in total non-structural carbohydrate content of stems or roots between savanna and forest species, though greater allocation to total root biomass by savanna species probably confers greater capacity to resprout following fire.
  • 6
    These differences in fire-related traits may largely explain the greater capacity of savanna species to persist in the savanna environment.
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