RAPID: Is postfire recruitment of chaparral shrubs constrained by local adaptation to soils (serpentine vs sandstone) or microclimates (north vs south slopes)?

火在查帕拉尔或常绿灌木丛的生态中扮演着关键角色，查帕拉尔灌木丛是包括加利福尼亚州在内的世界五个地中海气候地区独有的生态系统。许多轮叶植物的种子只有在火灾发生后的第二年才萌发，因此轮叶植物的年龄、繁殖、扩散潜力和群落组成受到火灾罕见的控制，通常是每1-10年一次。在加利福尼亚州的查帕拉尔，规定的烧伤很少发生。对这个生态系统的火灾生态所做的研究在很大程度上是机会主义的，利用了自然发生的火灾。2008年，超过5,000公顷的可进入的公共土地被烧毁，创造了一个难得的机会来研究三种主要的查帕尔灌木物种是否在当地适应了发现它们的地点。将进行试验，以确定再生是否只发生在特定土壤类型(砂岩或蛇纹岩)或特定坡面类型(温暖的南向或凉爽的北向)上产生的种子，或者在特定生境中产生的种子是否能够在其他土壤类型或具有不同方面的斜坡上成功萌发和建立。这项研究的结果将为以科学为基础的Chaparal生态系统管理提供更多信息。这些信息将有助于恢复退化的查帕尔，并有助于资源管理人员预测和规划物种分布的变化，以应对气候变化。

Fire plays a key role in the ecology of chaparral, or evergreen shrublands, an ecosystem unique to the five Mediterranean-climate regions of the world including California. Seeds of many chaparral plants germinate only in the year after a fire, and so the age, reproduction, dispersal potential, and community composition of chaparral plants are controlled by the infrequent occurrence of fire, typically once every 1-10 decades. Prescribed burns are seldom possible in Californian chaparral. What research has been done on the fire ecology of this ecosystem has been largely opportunistic, taking advantage of naturally occurring fires. More than 5,000 hectares of accessible public lands burned in 2008, creating a rare opportunity to examine whether three dominant chaparral shrub species are locally adapted to the sites on which they are found. Tests will be performed to determine if regeneration occurs only from seed produced on particular soil types (sandstone or serpentine) or on particular slope types (warm south-facing or cool north-facing), or whether seed produced in a particular habitat can successfully germinate and establish in other soil types or on slopes with different aspects. Results from this study will provide additional information for science-based management of chaparral ecosystems. This information will contribute to both the restoration of degraded chaparral and to the ability of resource managers to predict and plan for shifts in species distributions in response to climate change.