Interactions between fire regime, dispersal strategies and patch structure were examined as key issues for the management of floristic composition of grasslands, through a model that simulates the population dynamics of two competing fire-cued and non-sprouting species. The model describes a heterogeneous environment composed by several patches of grassland, only related by seed dispersal. The last burn date at each patch determines the accumulation level of fuel-biomass provided by a third, dominant species, which in turn controls for the exclusion rate of both colonizer species. The population dynamics of both species was approached following density-dependent models and parameterized for two opposite dispersal strategies: low spatial and high temporal dispersion of seeds (type 1), high spatial and low temporal dispersion of seeds (type 2). Only under the most variable scenarios (when non-synchronous and irregular fire regimes were combined with a proportion of patches (p) with initially depleted seed banks) did the relative success of dispersal strategies vary with the length of the fire-free period. Irrespective of p, smaller interval lengths favored the postburn density of the strategy 1. Strategy 2 was favored over strategy 1 when the fire-free interval increased, such difference being maximum for intermediate p-values. These general tendencies agree with those observed from a reference system: the Flooding Pampa grasslands dominated by Paspalum quadrifarium where short no-fire intervals promote the postburn abundance of a type 1 species (Lotus tenuis) over two type 2 species (Carduus acanthoides and Cirsium vulgare) while for long fire-free intervals the opposite is true. This results suggest that frequency, time since last burn, and burning synchrony are useful components of a fire regime to take advantage of variation in dispersal strategies.
Journal articles from the Grassland Society of Southern Africa (GSSA) African Journal of Range and Forage Science as well as related articles and reports from throughout the southern African region.