Burning grasses, poor seeds: post-fire reproduction of early-flowering Neotropical savanna grasses produces low-quality seeds

Fire is a key factor triggering ecological processes in old-growth grasslands and savannas and could have strong implications for reproduction via seeds for the herbaceous layer. In the Neotropical savannas, grasses show strong synchronous post-fire flowering, and their reproduction is often considered fire-dependent, with their massive post-fire seed production being suggested as a source of population maintenance. However, literature lacks studies to provide evidence of fire-dependent flowering and no study has assessed the quality of the post-fire seed production. Therefore, we aimed to describe a phenological pattern across early-flowering Neotropical savanna grasses in both recently burnt and unburnt cerrado communities addressing three questions: (1) Do the early-flowering species rely on fire for reproduction via seeds? (2) If no, what are the effects of fire on their reproductive phenology? (3) Does the massive seed production in post-fire cerrado communities lead to high-quality seeds? We recorded the reproductive phenology of nine early-flowering grasses for 17 weeks in unburnt and recently burnt cerrado communities. We collected the seeds, estimated the production of fertile seeds, and tested germination. No species showed a pattern of fire-dependent reproduction. Fire stimulated earlier flowering while reproduction in the unburnt community was related to continuous rainfall. Seed production following fire was of low quality, and no species produced > 7% fertile seeds. Seed germination remained below 50% for most species. Post-fire seed production of early-flowering species led to poor seed quality, suggesting a constraint to the recruitment of new individuals of early-flowering Neotropical savanna grasses in recently burnt cerrados.