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Drought during key stages of post-fire regeneration may filter plants better adapted to water stress
- May 20, 2026
- Forest Research
Salesa,D. y Santana,V. 2026. Drought during a key post-fire stage for recovery success filters plants with enhanced fitness under water stress in a Mediterranean obligate seeder. Annals of Botany.
A new study by the CEAM Foundation and the University of Alicante has analysed how drought during the first months following a summer wildfire may not only reduce regeneration, but also favour individuals with the most suitable traits for tolerating drought.
The study focused on the rockrose (Cistus albidus), a very common species during the early stages of post-fire recovery. This species was subjected to different drought treatments following an experimental fire. Several years later, life-history traits such as growth and fruit production were assessed alongside with leaf traits linked to water use.
The results show that not only does the drought event itself matter, but also when it occurs in relation to the fire. Plants that survived the drought during the first autumn after the fire were taller and produced more fruit four years later than those subjected to a spring drought. Furthermore, six years later, they still exhibited characteristics indicative of a more conservative water-use strategy compared to plants that had not experienced drought during recovery.
The study suggests that, at a critical moment of postfire recovery, drought may select individuals by favouring those within the same population with a greater capacity to tolerate dry conditions. This mechanism could be highly relevant for understanding how Mediterranean ecosystems respond to the combined effects of wildfires and increasingly summer droughts in a changing climate.
