Post-fire regeneration of Mediterranean-climate shrubs and shifting fire season: response of multiple functional groups

We surveyed 10 common shrub species in the Mediterranean-climate region of South Australia to examine the impact of fire season on mortality, resprout growth and recruitment, using three functional groups; fire response (obligate seeder vs resprouter), seed storage (soil- vs canopy-stored), and seed dormancy class (physical (PY) vs morphophysiological (MPD)). We also analysed individual species to assess species-specific responses. Files include raw data collected in field, and rmd files with coding used to analyse in R. <br> We used multiple response variables to investigate fire season impacts on the study species. Within each burn season treatment plot, three 50 meter belt transects (2m wide) approximately 10 meters apart were randomly established. Along each transect, post-fire shrub mortality was recorded for species where it was possible to identify dead trunks; thus we were able to estimate survival for all species except <em>Acrotriche serrulata, Hibbertia crinita, </em>and <em>Hibbertia riparia</em> which are all sub-shrubs<em>.</em> To assess the impact of different fire season on resprouting success, we measured resprout growth after spring and autumn burns for six species. For all species that resprouted, the number of resprouting stems and the longest resprouting stem were recorded. Resprout growth was calculated by multiplying the number of resprouting stems by the length of the longest stem (cm). To assess recruitment response, the number of seedlings per 2m x 1m quadrat were recorded along the length of each transect. <em>Hibbertia crinita </em>and <em>H. riparia</em> seedling data were pooled to remove seedling identification discrepancies. Zero counts were recorded for each quadrat if no seedlings were present but evidence of species presence was found (e.g. adult plants) along that transect. Data analysed were from surveys conducted in December 2021, after the first winter-rainfall season post-fire. An initial survey was also conducted in September, where very few seedlings were observed, and used to interpret overall response but not statistically analysed. Sites were also inspected in August 2022, to check seed dispersal from serotinous species.