Ecological resilience is widely acknowledged as a vital attribute of successful ecosystem restoration, with potential for restoration practice to contribute to this goal. Hence, defining common metrics of resilience to naturally occurring disturbances is essential for restoration planning, efforts, and monitoring. Here, we reviewed how plant community ecologists have measured resilience of restoration projects to disturbances and propose a framework to guide measurement of restoration projects to disturbance. We found 22 studies that investigated the impact of disturbances on restoration projects, from three continents and for three disturbance types. Over half of the studies were from Australia, with the dataset biased toward fire responses of restored, or partially restored, forest ecosystems. Native plant species richness, cover, and density were common response variables. Studies varied in restoration context, design, response variables, and statistical approaches, limiting generalizations. Nonetheless we have identified several response variables that offer potential as lagging indicators (e.g. species richness) and leading indicators (e.g. recruitment) of resilience in diverse vegetation types exposed to a variety of disturbance regimes. We suggest a third set of variables, proxy measures of resilience (e.g. functional redundancy), to complement lagging and leading indicators. We conclude with a framework to guide decisions about when to use each of the three types of measures to assess resilience of restoration projects to disturbance, providing some clarity to decision-making despite the uncertainty of changing disturbance regimes. Lastly, we invite researchers to understand the impact of disturbance on the resilience of restoration projects, rather than assume resilience.

Aims:Responses of ecological restoration projects to disturbances are rarely explored, yet their capacity to withstand and recover from disturbance (resilience) is a critical measure of restoration success. In many plant communities, the soil seed bank (SSB) provides an important source of propagules for species persistence and community resilience to disturbance. Understanding how SSBs develop with time can inform restoration of resilient ecosystems. Here, in fire-prone Banksia woodland restoration following sand mining, we ask: (a) how does the smoke-responsive (dormancy broken by smoke) SSB develop over time; (b) what plant-trait and climate factors influence its development; and (c) what do the data suggest for the resilience of these restored woodlands to fire? Location: Ellenbrook, Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia (latitude −31.76, longitude 115.95). Methods:We used smoke, a key germination cue associated with fire disturbance, to trigger germination of the SSB in Banksia woodland restoration. Using a chronosequence of nine ages between 3 and 26 years since initiation of restoration, we tested how the SSB develops using counts and richness of germinating native and invasive annuals, and native perennial obligate seeding and resprouting species. To understand the contribution of above-ground restored vegetation to SSB development, we compared Sørensen's similarity of the smoke germinable SSB (smoked SSB) and untreated germinable SSB (control SSB) with above-ground vegetation.Results: Smoked SSB germinant density decreased with restoration age for both native and invasive annuals, but was stable for native perennials. Similarity between smoked SSB and above-ground vegetation was higher for perennial obligate seeders than for resprouters and peaked for perennials at 23 years. Conclusions:Post-fire regeneration potential of the SSB was evident across the chronosequence, with restoration age influencing the density of native annuals and