Fire is a natural part of Australian ecosystems. Many plants have developed ways to adapt and even thrive after fire. They may store their seeds in the soil, ready to sprout after fire. Or they may flower after fire, which helps them to produce the next generation of seeds.
Most of what scientists know about plants and fire comes from studying what happens above ground. In my new research, my colleagues and I examined what happens below ground.
I studied plants in the eucalypt woodlands of Gariwerd, including the species-rich Grampians National Park of Victoria. I wanted to find out which seeds were waiting in the soil, and whether their presence or absence had anything to do with past fires. But first I had to grow them.
