From Traits to Rates: Fire Effects on Plant Evolution

Dear Colleagues,

Wildfires are generally perceived by society as catastrophic events that, apart from risking human lives and causing economic losses, destroy natural habitats, threaten biodiversity, and transform green landscapes into barren lands. Although fire damage to people is undeniable, the social perception of wildfires largely contrasts with what science substantiates. Over the past two decades, a growing body of research has been devoted to exploring the role of fire as a key natural process influencing plant evolution, community structure, and biodiversity, mostly in Mediterranean-type ecosystems. It is important that this information permeate through society, since understanding how fire shapes plant traits and biodiversity is crucial for nature conservation and management.

This Special Issue aims to bring together specialists in fire ecology and plant evolution, both young researchers and established scholars worldwide. It seeks to gather novel research and review/synthesis contributions on different aspects of fire evolution, from the phenotypic selection of particular plant traits in wild populations to diversification at the macroevolutionary scale. The main purposes of this Special Issue are (i) to update the knowledge of the effects of fire on plant evolution; and (ii) to draw society’s attention to the actual relationship of wildfire with plant biodiversity and conservation.

Dr. Fernando Ojeda
Dr. Susana Gómez-González
Guest Editors

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