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- Title
Postfire seed rain of black spruce, a semiserotinous conifer, in forests of interior Alaska.
- Authors
Johnstone, Jill; Boby, Leslie; Tissier, Emily; Mack, Michelle; Verbyla, Dave; Walker, Xanthe
- Abstract
The availability of viable seed can act as an important constraint on plant regeneration following disturbance. This study presents data on seed quantity and quality for black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.), a semiserotinous conifer that dominates large areas of North American boreal forest. We sampled seed rain and viability for 2 years after fire (2005–2007) in 39 sites across interior Alaska that burned in 2004. All sites were dominated by black spruce before they burned. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the relative importance of prefire spruce abundance, topography effects, canopy fire severity, and distance to unburned stands in explaining variations in black spruce seed rain. Prefire basal area of spruce that remained standing after fire was a significant predictor of total seed rain, but seed viability was more strongly related to site elevation, canopy fire severity, and distances to unburned stands. Although positive relations between tree basal area and the size of the aerial seed bank may place a first constraint on seed availability, accurate prediction of postfire viable seed rain for serotinous conifers also requires consideration of the effects of abiotic stress and canopy fire severity on seed viability.
- Subjects
ALASKA; SEED viability; BLACK spruce; SEED quality; TAIGAS; CONIFER seed; STRUCTURAL equation modeling; BASAL area (Forestry); FOREST fires; SOIL seed banks
- Publication
Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 2009, Vol 39, Issue 8, p1575
- ISSN
0045-5067
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1139/X09-068