Does soil seed bank diversity limit post-fire regeneration in small, fragmented, long-unburnt remnants of fire adapted vegetation?

► We germinated seed in soil collected from small remnants of senescent mallee eucalypt vegetation. ► Fifty three of the 113 native plant species that germinated were absent from the above-ground vegetation. ► Fourteen native species and 6 introduced species germinated in heat plus smoke treated soil but not in untreated soil. ► There is a greater potential for post-fire native regeneration from the soil seed bank of ungrazed sites than grazed sites. ► The germination of some species of weeds in the soil seed bank was found to be stimulated by burning.