Regeneration of heathland plants following burning

Calluna-dominated heathlands are widespread in N. Britain, especially in the eastern and central part of Scotland. The plant communities of these heathland ecosystems are influenced by regular burning as a land management practice. In a well-controlled fire, regeneration takes place both vegetatively (from surviving stem bases or underground rhizomes) and from seed. But there is always a post-fire successon taking place even in this brief period of vegetation reoovery. In order to understand the biological mechanisms operating in the post-fire succession, the present work was carried out to examine regeneration behaviour of different species. Three ‘regenerative strategies’ were identified: I. Woody low-shrubs with slow bud development to begin with, followed by vigorous and profuse branching, becoming dominant after two years; II. Small herbaceous hemicryptophytes; sprouting not as prolific as in plants of group I, but more vigorous than in plants of group III; III. Geophytes with rapid development, important in the first 2–3 years.