Quantifying the short-term flowering after fire in some plant communities of a cerrado grassland

Background: Fire has been reported to trigger the production of flowers and fruits in many fire-prone ecosystems around the world. However, for tropical savannas, little is known about the effects of fire on flower production at community and species scale, especially for the ground-layer.Aims: We assessed the role of fire as a trigger to short-term flowering in cerrado grassland, compared with unburned vegetation.Methods: We recorded the presence of flowers or fruits in 2,441 individuals from 47 plant species (grasses, forbs and subshrubs), during 6 months after fire, in burned and unburned areas of cerrado grasslands, in south-eastern Brazil.Results: In the burned areas, 63% of individuals sampled flowered, in contrast to 19% in unburned areas, demonstrating a strong and positive effect of fire on plant communities of cerrado grasslands. Fire significantly induced flowering in 79% of the studied species, of which 20 species flowered only after fire (nine grasses, seven subshrubs and four forbs).Conclusions: These results highlight the role of fire triggering important ecological processes in the cerrado grasslands, potentially benefiting seed production and genetic diversity of many species. Fire is a crucial factor to be maintained for conservation of these ecosystems and their biodiversity.