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dc.contributor.authorLamont, Byron
dc.contributor.authorHe, Tianhua
dc.date.accessioned2017-01-30T12:09:11Z
dc.date.available2017-01-30T12:09:11Z
dc.date.created2017-01-23T19:30:24Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.identifier.citationLamont, B. and He, T. 2017. Fire-Proneness as a Prerequisite for the Evolution of Fire-Adapted Traits. Trends in Plant Science. 22 (4): pp. 278-288.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18644
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.tplants.2016.11.004
dc.description.abstract

Fire as a major evolutionary force has been disputed because it is considered to lack supporting evidence. If a trait has evolved in response to selection by fire then the environment of the plant must have been fire-prone before the appearance of that trait. Using outcomes of trait assignments applied to molecular phylogenies for fire-stimulated flowering, seed-release, and germination, in this Opinion article we show that fire-proneness precedes, or rarely coincides with, the evolution of these fire-adapted traits. In addition, fire remains central to understanding germination promoted by smoke among species occurring in non-fire-prone environments because of the historical association of their clade with fire. Fire-mimicking selection and associated exaptations have no place in understanding the evolution of fire-adapted traits because we find no support for any reversal in the fire-trait sequence through time. Ancestral trait reconstruction using accurately dated molecular phylogenies is revolutionizing our understanding of fire-directed evolution among plants.Ancestral fire-prone lineages may also be identified on molecular phylogenies using fossil charcoal and reconstruction techniques.Ascertaining whether or not the onset of exposure to fire preceded the advent of putatively fire-adapted traits enables the identification of unique adaptations to fire.Fire-mimicking (multi-agent) selection and associated exaptations are alternative explanations of apparent fire-adapted traits that require selection via drought or non-unique components of fire to precede selection by fire.Smoke-stimulated germination among plants in non-fire-prone habitats may not be an anomaly if it can be shown that they possess a dormant gene mechanism inherited from a fire-prone past.

dc.publisherElsevier
dc.relation.sponsoredbyhttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP130103029
dc.titleFire-Proneness as a Prerequisite for the Evolution of Fire-Adapted Traits
dc.typeJournal Article
dcterms.source.issn1360-1385
dcterms.source.titleTrends in Plant Science
curtin.accessStatusOpen access
curtin.facultyFaculty of Science and Engineering


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