Seed germination behaviour of Lantana camara in response to smoke

Abstract

Lantana camara, a native of the New World tropics, has invaded tropical and subtropical ecosystems across the world. Its growth is stimulated by disturbances such as mild fire, cutting, pruning, and grazing. We investigated the effects of smoke on seed germination of L. camara. Smoked seeds started germinating earlier than non-smoked seeds. The proportion of seeds that germinated, and values of the Germination Velocity Index (GVI) and Vigour Index (VI) were also higher in the smoke treatment compared to the control treatment. Further, seedling mortality was lower in the case of smoked seeds. Our experiment indicates that fire could enhance seed germination in L. camara. Besides mechanical and chemical control methods, burning is used as a method to control L. camara. This practice needs to be discouraged because it could promote - rather than check - the spread of L. camara in burnt areas. © International Society for Tropical Ecology.