Post-fire seed output in two grass species from Northwestern Patagonia steppe (Argentina).

GITTINS C.; GHERMANDI L.; BRAN D.

Simposio; 46 IAVS Symposium; 2003

Grasslands located in Northwestern Patagonia are characterised by two dominant grass species Festuca pallescens and Stipa speciosa. These grasslands present a mediterranean climate and are subjected to recurrent fire events. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of fire disturbance on seed output in F. pallescens and S. speciosa.In January 30 1999 a fire was ignited by a lightning and affected a large area near San Carlos de Bariloche city (Patagonia, Argentina). On the second (January 2001) and the third (January 2002) post-fire years we registered panicle number and seed number in 50 F. pallescens and 50 S. speciosa plants in the burned area. This was also done in a Control area that was not affected by fire. In laboratory 100 seeds, from each species and each site, were weighed. Meteorological data were also registered for both years.Our results showed that on the second post-fire year S. speciosa panicle number was higher in the Control area, 111 + 50 against 28 + 18 (p