Postfire resprouting and recruitment from seed are key plant life-history traits that influence population dynamics, community composition and ecosystem function. Species can have one or both of these mechanisms. They
confer resilience, which may determine community composition through differential species persistence after
fire. To predict ecosystem level responses to changes in climate andfire conditions, we examined the proportions
of these plantfire-adaptive traits among woody growth forms of 2880 taxa, in eightfire-prone ecosystems comprising ~87% of Australia's land area. Shrubs comprised 64% of the taxa. More tree (N84%) than shrub (~50%) taxa
resprouted. Basal, epicormic and apical resprouting occurred in 71%, 22% and 3% of the taxa, respectively. Most
rainforest taxa (91%) were basal resprouters. Many trees (59%) in frequently-burnt eucalypt forest and savanna
resprouted epicormically. Although crownfire killed many mallee (62%) and heathland (48%) taxa,fire-cued
seeding was common in these systems. Postfire seeding was uncommon in rainforest and in aridAcaciacommunities that burnt infrequently at low intensity. Resprouting was positively associated with ecosystem productivity, but resprouting type (e.g. basal or epicormic) was associated with local scalefire activity, especiallyfire
frequency. Although rainforest trees can resprout they cannot recruit after intensefires and may decline under
futurefires. Semi-aridAcaciacommunities would be susceptible to increasingfire frequencies because they contain few postfire seeders. Ecosystems dominated by obligate seeders (mallee, heath) are also susceptible because
predicted shorter inter-fire intervals will prevent seed bank accumulation. Savanna may be resilient to future
fires because of the adaptive advantage of epicormic resprouting among the eucalypts. The substantial nonresprouting shrub component of shrublands may decline, but resilientEucalyptusspp. will continue to dominate
Postfire resprouting and recruitment from seed are key plant life-history traits that influence population dynamics, community composition and ecosystem function. Species can have one or both of these mechanisms. Theyconfer resilience, which may determine community composition through differential species persistence afterfire. To predict ecosystem level responses to changes in climate andfire conditions, we examined the proportionsof these plantfire-adaptive traits among woody growth forms of 2880 taxa, in eightfire-prone ecosystems comprising ~87% of Australia's land area. Shrubs comprised 64% of the taxa. More tree (N84%) than shrub (~50%) taxaresprouted. Basal, epicormic and apical resprouting occurred in 71%, 22% and 3% of the taxa, respectively. Mostrainforest taxa (91%) were basal resprouters. Many trees (59%) in frequently-burnt eucalypt forest and savannaresprouted epicormically. Although crownfire killed many mallee (62%) and heathland (48%) taxa,fire-cuedseeding was common in these systems. Postfire seeding was uncommon in rainforest and in aridAcaciacommunities that burnt infrequently at low intensity. Resprouting was positively associated with ecosystem productivity, but resprouting type (e.g. basal or epicormic) was associated with local scalefire activity, especiallyfirefrequency. Although rainforest trees can resprout they cannot recruit after intensefires and may decline underfuturefires. Semi-aridAcaciacommunities would be susceptible to increasingfire frequencies because they contain few postfire seeders. Ecosystems dominated by obligate seeders (mallee, heath) are also susceptible because
predicted shorter inter-fire intervals will prevent seed bank accumulation. Savanna may be resilient to future
fires because of the adaptive advantage of epicormic resprouting among the eucalypts. The substantial nonresprouting shrub component of shrublands may decline, but resilientEucalyptusspp. will continue to dominate
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