Abstract Serotiny is the prolonged storage of seeds in closed cones or fruits held within the crown of woody plants. It is widespread throughout fireprone vegetation with a predominantly winter rainfall, especially in Mediterrnanean-type ecosystems (MTEs). Nonstorage is a feature of fireprone vegetation with summer-dominant rainfall or nonfireprone vegetation. Serotiny confers fitness benefits on an individual when fire return intervals fall between age to reproductive maturity and the plant life span. The level of serotiny within and between species varies greatly along a continuum indicating highly plastic responses to different environmental conditions. Here we review how and why the traits that underpin this reproductive syndrome evolved and continue to control the occurrence of species in contemporary landscapes. We documented 1345 serotinous species in fireprone regions of Australia, South Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, North America, and Asia. The length of seed storage varies from a few years (weak serotiny) to >10 years (strong serotiny), with remarkable diversity even within clades. We show how the interplay between postfire and interfire seedling recruitment dictates the expression of serotiny along a strong serotiny/nonserotiny continuum, and that, where strong serotiny is favored, the ‘gene support for serotiny’ builds up over successive generations. Nonserotiny is favored in the absence of fire or occurs at intervals exceeding plant longevity, but also when the fire is so frequent that only resprouters can survive. We identify 23 traits associated with serotiny/nonserotiny syndromes that are subject to both environmental and phylogenetic constraints. While all are coordinated for maximum fitness, some traits, such as protection from granivores, are only indirectly related to the fire regime. Serotiny has a long history extending back to the Triassic. The rate of serotinous-lineage proliferation has fluctuated greatly over time but peaked over the last 5 million years. Nonserotinous species have evolved from serotinous ancestors in response to increased fire frequency, or as plants migrated to fire-free habitats. We note that contemporary shifts in climate, land-use, and exploitation have had a profound, but disproportionate, effect on the conservation status and evolutionary trajectory of serotinous species in MTEs. Escalating anthropogenic impacts increase the need to understand how and why serotiny is such a prominent feature of some fireprone ecosystems. We highlight avenues for future research and argue for the use of temporally based measures of serotiny to facilitate comparisons between studies.

中文翻译：

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火作为血清素和非血清素在空间和时间上的选择性代理

摘要 血清素是将种子长时间储存​​在封闭的球果或木本植物树冠内的果实中。它普遍存在于冬季降雨量主要的易着火植被中，尤其是在地中海型生态系统 (MTE) 中。Nonstorage 是具有夏季主要降雨量的易着火植被或不易着火的植被的特征。当回火间隔介于年龄到生殖成熟度和植物寿命之间时，血清素赋予个体健康益处。物种内部和物种之间的血清素水平在一个连续体上变化很大，表明对不同环境条件的高度可塑性反应。在这里，我们回顾了支撑这种生殖综合征的特征如何以及为何进化并继续控制当代景观中物种的发生。我们在澳大利亚、南非、地中海盆地、北美和亚洲的火灾易发地区记录了 1345 种血清素物种。种子储存的长度从几年（弱血清素）到 >10 年（强血清素）不等，即使在进化枝内也具有显着的多样性。我们展示了火后和火间苗招募之间的相互作用如何决定血清素沿着强血清素/非血清素连续体的表达，并且在强血清素受到青睐的地方，“血清素的基因支持”在连续几代人中建立起来。在没有火的情况下或以超过植物寿命的间隔发生时，非血清素是有利的，而且当火是如此频繁以至于只有重芽者可以生存时。我们确定了 23 种与血清素/非血清素综合征相关的特征，这些特征同时受到环境和系统发育的限制。虽然所有这些都是为了最大程度的适应而协调的，但一些特性，例如免受食肉动物的侵害，只是与火灾状况间接相关。Serotiny 有着悠久的历史，可以追溯到三叠纪。随着时间的推移，血清素谱系增殖的速度波动很大，但在过去 500 万年中达到顶峰。非血清物种是响应于火灾频率增加或植物迁移到无火栖息地而从血清祖先进化而来的。我们注意到，气候、土地利用和开发的当代变化对 MTE 中血清素物种的保护状况和进化轨迹产生了深远但不成比例的影响。不断升级的人为影响增加了了解血清素如何以及为什么是某些易火生态系统的突出特征的必要性。我们强调了未来研究的途径，并主张使用基于时间的血清素测量来促进研究之间的比较。