Resprouting Dynamics

Abstract

Resprouting, i.e. the production of sprouts from buds on pre-existing plant organs, is one of the most important mechanisms of plant regeneration under natural and anthropogenic disturbances. This response has been widely observed in many plant communities around the world, but it is probably in Mediterranean regions that it has received most attention (Keeley and Zedler 1978). In fact, the resprouting ability of many Mediterranean shrubs and trees has been one of the most important keystones to building up the paradigm of the resilience (sensu Westman 1986) and autosuccessional nature (Hanes 1971) of these communities after disturbances. However, the evolutionary meaning and the selection forces that lead to the resprouting habit have been the focus of a long controversy. Since fire is one of the most typical disturbances in Mediterranean areas, and resprouting is a common response to fire, early studies pointed out that it was an adaptation, a trait selected by fire (Naveh 1974). Recent reviews have criticized this concept arguing that: (1) resprouting is an old and widespread trait among many angiosperm species, present in taxa not regularly exposed to fire (Axelrod 1989); and (2) other selective factors, such as grazing or drought, may also lead to a re-sprouting habit (James 1984; Keeley 1986). Thus, resprouting should be considered as an attribute evolved in response to multiple possible selective forces, a sort of reiteration by which a plant reverts to a juvenile state after damage.