Seed bank patterns in Restionaceae and Epacridaceae after wildfire in kwongan in southwestern Australia

Post‐fire seed germination, seedling mortality and seed banks were investigated in scrub‐heath (kwongan) in SW Australia. Study species included herbaceous and woody, obligate seeders and resprouters in two non‐bradysporous but significant plant families ( Restionaceae and Epacridaceae ). In all species, seedlings were recruited only in the first autumn‐spring after fire and occurred in similar densities as the estimated germinable annual seed input. Seedlings were absent from unburnt vegetation. Although most species retained some residual seeds after fire, tests (excised embryo culture) indicated that a negligible number of seeds were germinable. Regardless of fire response or species, there appeared to be a large loss of seeds each year and in most cases, only a small proportion of the annual seed production was used in post‐fire recovery of plants. Based on seedling: parent ratios, all species had the capacity to reconstitute parent densities from germinants in the first year after fire, but high seedling mortality and no further recruitment resulted in less seedlings than replacements for four resprouter Restionaceae and three Epacridaceae (all obligate seeders) at the end of the third year after fire.