All Things Botanically Related: EVOLUTION OF THE FIRE-ADAPTED CALIFORNIA FLORA, with Jon Keeley

Announced on: Thursday, Oct. 02, 2025

Thursday, October 16: From the Friends of the Ahart Herbarium

7 PM: Keynote Speaker, Jon Keeley

6:30 PM: FOAH Annual Meeting, featuring Chico State MS & Jokerst Award winner, Tawny Bolinas

To register: www.csuchico.edu/herbarium/ or www.friendsoftheahartherbarium.org/

FIRE ADAPTATION, Jon Keeley: "Over the past century much has been written on the evolution of the California flora. Drivers of change have focused on the role of climate, topographic relief, and substrates, however the role of fires as a selective force has largely been ignored. Macrofossil data provide convincing evidence that fires have been a regular feature of California landscapes throughout the Cenozoic. Understanding how fire has shaped plant adaptations requires recognition of the different fire regimes in a range of ecoregions in the state. In this presentation I will explore fire regimes in herbaceous, shrubland and forest types throughout the state and how different regimes have selected for different fire-adaptations. Looking forward I will discuss how global changes are likely to alter fire regimes and their impact on different fire response types."

PRIORITY EFFECTS OF FOLIAR FUNGAL ENDOPHYTES IN LEAF LITTER DECOMPOSITION, Tawny Bolinas: "These fungi can defend against pathogens and help plants retain water in arid environments, but many of their ecological roles remain unclear. We hypothesized that certain endophytes persist in leaves as dormant commensals, becoming active upon senescence to initiate decomposition and influence subsequent fungal community assembly via priority effects. Using high-throughput sequencing, we tracked fungal community shifts and found that while distinct taxa were associated with each treatment, decomposition rates were similar. Site-level effects and stochastic processes played a larger role in shaping community composition than endophyte presence."