Resprouting of the Mediterranean‐type shrub Erica australis with modified lignotuber carbohydrate content

Abstract

Summary 1The vigour of plant resprouting after fire may be driven by the amount of stored non-structural carbohydrates (NC). However, the extent to which NC reserves limit this response in woody plants has not been established. 2 This study analyses the effects of modifying NC concentrations in the lignotuberous Mediterranean-type shrub Erica australis , on resprouting after experimental burning. A factorial experiment with two treatments (shade and burn) was carried out, with three levels per treatment. Plants were shaded (exposure to 100%, 50% or 20% of incident radiation for 1 year), following which they were clipped (control, no fire), or clipped and burned at one of two levels of severity. After this, they were allowed to resprout and grow for 2 years. 3 Shading modified NC concentrations in the lignotuber, but not in the roots. Two years after burning, plants subjected to the greatest shading, which reduced their NC concentrations to 44% (sum of NC) or 19% (starch) of that of control plants, had suffered higher mortality after resprouting, had a significantly lower number of resprouts, of shorter length, and had produced lower biomass per plant than less shaded or unshaded plants. However, plants subjected to intermediate shade, which suffered a reduction in NC concentrations to 70% of that of control plants, did not differ in resprouting response from control plants. 4 Burning caused more direct mortality, and a severe reduction in both number or biomass of resprouts, than just clipping. There were no significant shade × burning interaction effects. 5 While reductions in NC may limit resprouting, such limitation may only occur when NC is reduced to much lower concentrations than caused by commonly experienced conditions. The role of NC reserves in limiting resprouting of lignotuberous, woody plants such as E. australis might therefore not be as important as is commonly assumed.

The role of stored carbohydrates and nitrogen in the growth and stress tolerance of planted forest trees

“…At a within-species scale, stored resources can play a significant role in overcoming browsing, disease and competition (McPherson and Williams 1998;Cruz et al 2003;Cuesta et al 2010). Stored C rather than current photosynthesis provided most of the C used for the construction of reaction tissues in P. sylvestris infected with a pathogenic fungus (Guérard et al 2007).…”

“…Differences in the amount of stored resources across species has been linked to recovery capacity after catastrophic loss of leaves or roots by disturbances (Cruz et al 2003;Hoffmann et al 2003;Palacio et al 2007) and resisting prolonged stress conditions such as deep shade, low winter temperature and water stress (Canham et al 1999;Poorter and Kitajima 2007;O'Brien et al 2014). Differences in stored resources can also influence plant performance at an intra-species scale.…”

Do Wildfires Promote Woody Species Invasion in a Fire-Adapted Ecosystem? Post-fire Resprouting of Native and Non-native Woody Plants in Central Argentina

“…The positive relationship between post-fire growth and pre-fire height of individuals could be due to a positive relationship between the size of individuals and the ability Environmental Management to supply plant nutrients as carbohydrates and water to the meristem that remained active after fire (Hodgkinson 1998;Cruz et al 2003). The native species with the highest vigor of resprouting were Schinus fasciculatus, Celtis ehrenbergiana and Kageneckia lanceolata, the first two species also reported in Gurvich et al (2005) as with high post-fire growth rate (C. ehrenbergiana, Synonym: Celtis pallida Torr.…”

Advances in Remote Sensing of Post-Fire Vegetation Recovery Monitoring - A Review

“…The most common sampling technique for monitoring plant populations is the use of permanent square plots. Taking into account both species characteristics and the extent of the study area, the size, the shape and the number of different plots are determined (Arianoutsou 1984;Clemente et al 1996;Calvo et al 2002;Cruz et al 2003;Mitri and Gitas 2010). Accordingly, and in order to facilitate the objective collection of data on the ground, a number of field variables have been measured.…”