Studies on fire in Scottish heathland communities. III. Vital attributes of the species

(1) The characteristics of species occurring in the post-fire development of heathland vegetation are investigated with special reference to the `vital attributes' discussed by Noble & Slatyer (1978). (2) Most of the vascular species possess two main mechanisms for persistence during disturbance and subsequent re-establishment: (i) an ability to regrow vegetatively and (ii) storage of seed in the soil. Only Betula spp. depend on seed dispersal into an area after fire. (3) Variations in post-fire vegetation development are discussed in terms of the varying availability of propagules and regeneration centres in stands of different ages, mediated by the timing of critical life history events for the major species groups.