A Global Perspective of the Functional Trait Responses of Graminoids to the Seasonality of Fire
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The literature needs to be enriched with more classical papers on fire effects on grasslands.
The explanation as to why 'we observe increased flowering and seed production per plant in the summer burn' (lines 320 - 322) is not convincing at all. An alternative should be provided based on the published literature. Otherwise, it should be eliminated.
Author Response
Response to reviewer 1
The literature needs to be enriched with more classical papers on fire effects on grasslands.
Response
Lines 60-67: More literature was provided under the introduction section to try to add more value to the background.
The explanation as to why 'we observe increased flowering and seed production per plant in the summer burn' (lines 320 - 322) is not convincing at all. An alternative should be provided based on the published literature. Otherwise, it should be eliminated.
Response
Authors would like to thank the reviewer for this comment. Indeed, the sentence was incorrect. The authors decided to delete the sentence.
Additional changes
Line 36 under abstract: “stalk” was changed to “tiller”
Line 287 under discussion: the subtopic was changed to " Burning enhances flowering and seed production of graminoids”
Line 310: References were revised and now they are in line with the style of the journal.
There are no changes done on the research design and methods because authors believe that this section is adequately reported.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
1. Please include these two reference related to this paper:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-023-00169-4
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0143622821002034
2. Please include limitation of the study in a separate paragraph
3. You should discuss ‘future scope of research’ in a paragraph.
4. Please explain more the boarder aspect of this research in the conclusion.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
- Figures quality (high resolution) need to improve.
Response
Authors would like to humble themselves to the editor to accept these graphs because the software used for analysis does not have the function to combine different figures, this situation forces us to combine them using online softwares which reduce the quality. Authors believe that while indeed the quality is low, the graphs are still visible.
- Line 27: km2
Response
Authors would like to clarify that the units used in this study is m-2 not km2. So, no changes were made in the manuscript.
- The reference system should follow Frontiers journal format. Please see the authors guidelines.
Response
The refencing was improved to align with the style of the journal. For all references where authors had two initials, the dot (.) was added to separate initials. Authors believe that the references are now inline with the style of the journal as suggested.
- Please include the limitations of this research in the paper.
Response
Lines 312-328: the section on the limitations and future research directions was added.
- What will be the border aspect of this paper? How can this approach be used in other parts of the world?
Response
Line 94-99 in the introduction: we added a sentences to indicate broader aspect of this study and the sentences read as follows:
Furthermore, the future climate characterized by recurrent droughts is projected to shift burning seasons and frequencies, with fires likely to occur within short frequencies over extended seasons of burn. Thus, understanding plant responses to different burning seasons at a global scale form basis for understanding resilience strategies of herbaceous plant communities to future climate-driven shifts in fire regime
- Please include examples (e.g., USA, Canada, UK, Asia, Africa, Europe) and reference from different part of the globe.
Response
Line 61-63: As suggested by the reviewer, we added a sentence which reads: For instance, summer fires increased flowering of grasses in European [18] and North American grasslands [17], whereas spring fires promoted bunchgrass resprouting in African [19] and Australian ecosystems [20].
- Try to provide novelty of this research in the end of introduction and conclusion. 8. Line 37: km2 instead of hm2
Response
Lines 95-95 of the introduction: The sentences were added in the introduction to indicate the novelty of the study.
Also, in line 336-337 of the cconclusion: A sentence was added.
Additional changes
Line 36: “stalk” was changed to “tiller”
Line 287: the subtopic was changed to " Burning enhances flowering and seed production of graminoids”
Line 310: the two references suggested by the reviewer were added.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
