Demographic Processes Underpinning Post-Fire Resilience in California Closed-Cone Pine Forests: The Importance of Fire Interval, Stand Structure, and Climate

Demographic Processes Underpinning Post-Fire Resilience in California Closed-Cone Pine Forests: The Importance of Fire Interval, Stand Structure, and Climate | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Demographic Processes Underpinning Post-Fire Resilience in California Closed-Cone Pine Forests: The Importance of Fire Interval, Stand Structure, and Climate Michelle C Agne, Joseph B Fontaine, Neal J Enright, Sarah M Bisbing, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-913774/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Feb, 2022 Read the published version in Plant Ecology → Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The resilience of serotinous obligate-seeding plants to fire may be compromised if increasing fire frequency curtails time available for canopy seed bank accumulation (i.e., immaturity risk), but how various drivers affect seed availability at the time of fire is poorly understood. Using field data from California closed-cone pine (Pinus attenuata and P. muricata) stands, we assess two critical demographic processes during the inter-fire period—reproductive capacity and mortality. At tree- and stand-levels, we test how these processes are affected by stand age and are mediated by biotic and abiotic factors. We found that stand age was the key driver of reproductive capacity; older stands had a greater proportion of reproductively mature individuals and greater closed cone density. Stand density mediated the effect of age; greater stand density resulted in greater closed cone density and a lower proportion of reproductively mature individuals, but reproductive capacity in low- and high-density stands converged over time. Increased moisture stress reduced the stand-level proportion reproductively mature but had no effect on closed cone density. Mortality was strongly associated with density-dependent thinning and increased in stands with high moisture stress. Reproductive capacity began to increase sharply 10 years after fire and by 20 years immaturity risk is low. However, prior to 20 years, low-density stands with high moisture stress may be more susceptible to immaturity risk. Understanding these relationships is critical to predicting serotinous population persistence under changing climate and disturbance conditions. Plant Physiology and Morphology Plant Molecular Biology and Genetics Canopy seed bank cone production demographic shift Pinus attenuata Pinus muricata serotiny Full Text Supplementary Files AgneetalPlantEcolConeProdSI.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Feb, 2022 Read the published version in Plant Ecology → Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 20 Oct, 2021 Reviewers invited by journal 18 Oct, 2021 Editor invited by journal 16 Sep, 2021 Editor assigned by journal 16 Sep, 2021 First submitted to journal 15 Sep, 2021 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-913774","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":57352261,"identity":"43117426-e65b-4c4b-a414-2860186d8b0d","order_by":0,"name":"Michelle C 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