Saw-wort
Serratula tinctoria
Family: Asteraceae
Fire effect on plant
The direct effect of fire on this species is not described in the literature, but it is likely top-killed by low-severity fire and killed in high-severity fires.
Key traits
Saw wort is a perennial erect plant, with numerous thread-like roots and a short, slanting rhizome (Jefferson and Walker 2017). Resprouting after fire from belowground buds is not described in the literature for this species, but is for a closely related species in southern Europe (S. nudicaulis; Bagaria et al 2012).
This species has a short-term persistent seed bank type (Hölzel and Otte 2004; Stammel et al 2006), persisting in soil for at least 1 year but fewer than five (Thompson et al 1997). Establishment is primarily from seed, and seedling recruitment is enhanced by disturbance that creates bare ground, increasing light flux and lower cover of bryophytes and litter. Seed survival through fire is not described.
Plant response to fire
Saw worts live in heathland communities that have had a long history of burning management (e.g., the Lizard Peninsula, southwest England; Coombe and Frost 1956; Rodwell 1991). Coombe and Frost (1956) noted that burning has had no permanent effects on species typical of the Erica vagans-Ulex europaeus heath in the Lizard Peninsula, but that S. tinctoria is much less abundant in recently burnt stands.
Timing of life history
A long-lived perennial. Seeds likely produced from second growing season. Flowering July to September.
Conservation status
None.
References
Bagaria, G., Pino, J., Rodà, F., Guardiola, M. 2012. Species traits weakly involved in plant responses to landscape properties in Mediterranean grasslands. Journal of Vegetation Science 23: 432–442. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Coombe, D.E., Frost, L.C. 1956 The heaths of the Cornish serpentine. Journal of Ecology, 44: 226–256. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Hölzel, N., Otte, A. 2004a Assessing soil seed bank persistence in flood-meadows: the search for reliable traits. Journal of Vegetation Science 15: 93–100. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Jefferson, R.G., Walker, K.J. 2017, Biological Flora of the British Isles: Serratula tinctoria. Journal of Ecology 105: 1438-1458. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Rodwell, J.S. (ed.) 1991a British Plant Communities, vol. 2: Mires and Heaths. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Stammel, B., Kiehl, K., Pfadenhauer, J. 2006 Effects of experimental and real land use on seedling recruitment of six fen species. Basic and Applied Ecology 7: 334–346. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Thompson, K., Bakker, J.P., Bekker, R.M. 1997 The Soil Seed Banks of North West Europe: Methodology, Density and Longevity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]