FIRE-SURVIVAL STRATEGY - A CHARACTER OF TAXONOMIC, ECOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY IMPORTANCE IN FYNBOS LEGUMES

Variation in the fire-survival strategy of the fynbos, legume tribes P odalyrieae and Liparieae was studied, since it is often the only consp icuous difference between morphologically similar taxa. Two main strat egies are apparent: sprouters, taxa which are able to sprout from a wo ody rootstock after fire and non-sprouters, those which only recruit f rom seed after fire. In fynbos legumes sprouting and non-sprouting tax a differ in their habitat specificity, population densities, relative regional abundance, and in seed germination tempo. Speciation patterns , as inferred from an analysis of the geographical distribution and ha bitat specificity of the species, are discussed. Problems relating to the use of sprouting versus non-sprouting as a taxonomic character in fynbos legumes are addressed and possible solutions are given.