Dormant Buds Ensure Fire Survival

long thin green leaves come off of skinny red branches with bright white flowers and red buds on this jarrah tree

Biological Strategy

Jarrah

AskNature Team

Image: Podiceps60 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY SA - Creative Commons Attribution + ShareAlike

Protect From Fire

Depending on location, fire can be either predictable or unpredictable. In some areas, fires occur in cycles ranging from annual to hundreds of years. Where fire is cyclic, living systems must be able to not only survive fire, but to quickly recover following it. For example, pine trees that live in areas with periodic fires have thick bark that provides insulation, thereby protecting the tree’s living tissue.

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Flowering Plants

Clade Angiosperms (“receptacle seed”): Dandelions, oaks, grasses, cacti, apples

With 416 families containing some 300,000 known species, angiosperms are the most diverse group of plants, and they can be found around the globe in a wide variety of habitats. They are characterized by seeds that grow enclosed in ovaries, which are enclosed in flowers. The floral organs then develop into fruits of myriad kinds and dimensions, from simple seed casings on maples to elaborate fleshy growths like papayas. The oldest flower known from fossils, Montsechia vidalii, appeared during the Jurassic Period 130 million years ago. They are the primary food source for herbivorous animals, which in turn makes them the indirect food source for carnivores as well.

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Epicormic buds of jarrah help the trees survive fire by remaining dormant until extreme heat triggers their growth.

Image: Gnangarra / Wikimedia Commons /

Heritage list Old Jarrah tree in Armadale Western Australia, estimated age is between 300-400 years. The building works around the tree are part of a multi story carpark.

Image: Hesperian / Wikimedia Commons /

This is a map of the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation of Australia (IBRA), with state boundaries overlaid. The '''Jarrah Forest''' region is filled in grey.

Image: Gnangarra / Wikimedia Commons /

“Epicormic buds are formed in the angles between leaves and the stem of young plants and become dormant. In woody plants, as the stems increase in thickness, these buds extend to keep pace with the enlarging cylinder of wood but become enclosed by the outside layers of cork. The corky blanket insulates them from fire, aided by soil in the lowermost parts, and when the dormancy is broken by the heat of the fire they break through the cork and form leafy stems.” (Dawson and Lucas 2005:131)

Last Updated August 18, 2016

References

Book

The Nature of Plants: Habitats, Challenges, and Adaptations

Timber Press | 01/02/2005 | John Dawson

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Reference

Other Biological Strategies

Biological Strategy

Underground Storage Swelling Enables Regeneration

The lignotuber of Eucalyptus kochii plenissima allows it to regenerate after being destroyed by storing energy reserves and potential bud-forming sites.

various shades of light brown, yellow, and dark red make smooth swirling shapes in a close up image of eucalyptus bark

Biological Strategy

Bark Protects Buds From Fire

Eucalyptus

Some eucalyptus trees protect their dormant, vegetative buds from fire via thick bark.

a forest grows along the edge of a river in brazil

Biological Strategy

Surviving in Fire-prone Areas

Tropical fire ecology

Tropical gallery forest patches located in the midst of fire-prone savannas resist burning due to changes in fuel characteristics at the forest boundary, moisture levels, and the presence of fire-adapted species adjacent to the savanna.