Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Costs of resprouting are traded off against reproduction in subtropical coastal dune forest trees

  • Published:
Plant Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Resprouting can be an important means of regeneration for forest tree species resulting in multi-stemmed architecture, especially at less productive or frequently disturbed sites. However, the cost of resprouting may be traded off against growth or reproduction. In subtropical coastal forest in South Africa, trees grow on steep, sandy dunes with unstable soils and low to moderate nutrient availability. These coastal forests experience seasonally strong anticyclonic winds from August through October. We examined the hypothesis that basal resprouting resulting in multiple stems causes lower rates of sexual reproduction and recruitment by individuals. We examined whether trees traded off resprouting against seed output, seed size, seedling abundance and recruitment by seedlings. Species were designated as good and poor resprouters based on their frequency of multi-stemmed individuals at Cape Vidal. Good resprouters had more stems, produced less seed and had lower seed mass than poor resprouters, and had lower seedling abundance and fewer individuals in small diameter classes than large diameter classes. Seedling abundance in good resprouters was not influenced by the availability of understorey gaps. Good resprouters were most abundant on dune crests and seaward slopes that were exposed to sea winds. Persistence of established individuals by producing multiple stems from basal resprouts is important where a chronic disturbance regime potentially reduces the survivorship of single-stemmed individuals and thereby their opportunities for reproduction. Good resprouters appear to trade-off recruitment of new individuals for multiple stems that increase the persistence of established ones against disturbance. We conclude that multi-stemming arising from basal resprouts has evolved to promote individual persistence under low to moderate intensity but pervasive wind stress.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bell DT (2001) Ecological response syndromes in the flora of southwestern Western Australia: fire resprouters versus reseeders. Bot Rev 67:417–440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellingham PJ, Sparrow AD (2000) Resprouting as a life history strategy in woody plant communities. Oikos 89:409–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellingham PJ, Sparrow AD (2009) Multi-stemmed trees in montane rain forests: their frequency and demography in relation to elevation, soil nutrient and disturbance. J Ecol 97:472–483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellingham PJ, Tanner EVJ, Healey JR (1994) Sprouting of trees in Jamaican montane forests, after a hurricane. J Ecol 82:747–758

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellingham PJ, Tanner EVJ, Healey JR (1995) Damage and responsiveness of Jamaican montane tree species after disturbance by a hurricane. Ecology 76:2562–2580

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bond WJ, Midgley JJ (1995) Kill thy neighbour: an individualistic argument for the evolution of flammability. Oikos 73:79–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bond WJ, Midgley JJ (2001) Ecology of sprouting in woody plants: the persistence niche. Trends Ecol Evol 16:45–51

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bond WJ, Midgley JJ (2003) The evolutionary ecology of sprouting in woody plants. Int J Plant Sci 164:S103–S114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bond WJ, van Wilgen BW (1996) Fire and plants. Chapman and Hall, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Borchert R (1976) The concept of juvenility in woody plants. Acta Hortic 56:21–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowen BJ, Pate JS (1993) The significance of root starch in post-fire recovery of the resprouter Stirlingia latifolia R Br (Proteaceae). Ann Bot 72:7–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyes LJ, Griffiths ME, Manson AD, Lawes MJ (2010) Soil nutrients are not responsible for arrested succession in disturbed coastal dune forest. Plant Ecol 208:293–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyes LJ, Gunton RM, Griffiths ME, Lawes MJ (2011) Causes of arrested succession in coastal dune forest. Plant Ecol 212:21–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown J, Enright NJ, Miller BP (2003) Seed production and germination in two rare and three common co-occurring Acacia species from south-east Australia. Aust Ecol 28:271–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Busby PE, Vitousek P, Dirzo R (2010) Prevalence of tree regeneration by sprouting and seeding along a rainfall gradient in Hawai’i. Biotropica 42:80–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canadell J, López-Soria L (1998) Lignotuber reserves support regrowth following clipping of two Mediterranean shrubs. Funct Ecol 12:31–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter FL, Recher HF (1979) Pollination, reproduction and fire. Am Nat 113:871–879

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark JS (1991) Disturbance and tree life history on the shifting mosaic landscape. Ecology 72:1102–1118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke PJ (2002a) Habitat insularity and fire response traits: evidence from a sclerophyll archipelago. Oecologia 132:582–591

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke PJ (2002b) Habitat islands in fire prone vegetation: evidence for floristic and functional insularity in Australian vegetation. J Biogeogr 29:677–684

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke PJ, Knox KJE, Wills KE, Campbell M (2005) Landscape patterns of woody plant response to crown fire: disturbance and productivity influence sprouting ability. J Ecol 93:544–555

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coates-Palgrave K (2002) Trees of Southern Africa 3rd edn. Struik Publishers Cape Town, South Africa

    Google Scholar 

  • Del Tredici P (2001) Sprouting in temperate trees: a morphological and ecological review. Bot Rev 67:121–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denton MD, Veneklaas EJ, Freimoser FM, Lambers H (2007) Banksia species (Proteaceae) from severely phosphorus impoverished soils exhibit extreme efficiency in the use and re-mobilisation of phosphorus. Plant Cell Environ 30:1557–1565

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Donnegan JA, Rebertus A (1999) Rates and mechanisms of subalpine forest succession along an environmental gradient. Ecology 80:1370–1384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enright NJ, Goldblum D (1999) Demography of a non-sprouting and resprouting Hakea species (Proteaceae) in fire-prone Eucalyptus woodlands of southeastern Australia in relation to stand age, drought and disease. Plant Ecol 144:71–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enright NJ, Mosner E, Miller BP, Johnson N, Lamont BB (2007) Patterns of soil versus canopy seed storage and plant species coexistence in species-rich shrublands of southwestern Australia. Ecology 88:2292–2304

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Falster D, Westoby M (2005) Tradeoffs between height growth rate, stem persistence and maximum height among plant species in a post-fire succession. Oikos 111:57–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fontanier EJ, Jonkers H (1976) Juvenility and maturity of plants as influenced by their ontogenetical and physiological aging. Acta Hort 56:57–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths ME, Lawes MJ, Tsvuura Z (2007) Understorey gaps influence regeneration dynamics in subtropical coastal dune forest. Plant Ecol 189:227–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grime J (1977) Evidence for the existence of three primary strategies in plants and its relevance to ecological and evolutionary theory. Am Nat 111:1169–1194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groom PK, Lamont BB (1996) Reproductive ecology of nonsprouting and resprouting species of Hakea (Proteaceae) in SWA. In: Hopper SD, Chappill JA, Harvey MS, George AS (eds) Gondwanan heritage: past, present and future of the Western Australian biota. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton, pp 239–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Groom PK, Lamont BB, Wright I (2001) Lottery (stochastic) and non-lottery (biological) processes explain recruitment patterns among eight congeneric shrubs in southwestern Australia. J Mediterr Ecol 2:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Hubbell SP (1979) Tree dispersion, abundance and diversity in a tropical dry forest. Science 203:1299–1309

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Karlsson PS, Tenow O, Bylund H, Hoogesteger J, Weih M (2004) Determinants of mountain birch growth in situ: effects of temperature and herbivory. Ecography 27:659–667

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keeley JE (1986) Resilience of mediterranean shrub communities to fires. In: Dell B, Hopkins AMJ, Lamont BB (eds) Resilience in Mediterranean-type ecosystems. Dr. W. Junk, Dordrecht, pp 95–112

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Keeley JE, Zedler PH (1978) Reproduction of chaparral shrubs after fire: a comparison of sprouting and seeding strategies. Am Midl Nat 99:142–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keeley JE, Pausas JG, Rundel PW, Bond WJ, Bradstock RA (2011) Fire as an evolutionary pressure shaping plant traits. Trends Plant Sci 16:406–411

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Knox KJE, Clarke PJ (2005) Nutrient availability induces contrasting allocation and starch formation in resprouting and obligate seeding shrubs. Funct Ecol 19:690–698

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koop H (1987) Vegetative reproduction of trees in some European natural forests. Vegetation 72:103–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Kruger LM, Midgley JJ, Cowling RM (1997) Resprouters vs reseeders in South African forest trees: a model based on forest canopy height. Funct Ecology 11:101–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lamont BB, Wiens DL (2003) Are seed set and speciation rates always low among species that resprout after fire, and why? Evol Ecol 17:277–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lasso E, Engelbrecht BMJ, Dalling JW (2009) When sex is not enough: ecological correlates of resprouting capacity in congeneric tropical forest shrubs. Oecologia 161:43–56

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Masaki T, Suzuki W, Niiyama K, Iida S, Tanaka H, Nakashizuka T (1992) Community structure of a species-rich temperate forest, Ogawa forest reserve, central Japan. Vegetation 98:97–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masaki T, Tanaka H, Tanouchi H, Sakai T, Nakashizuka T (1999) Structure, dynamics and disturbance regime of temperate broad-leaved forests in Japan. J Veg Sci 10:805–814

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCoy S, Jaffré T, Rigault FEA (1999) Fire and succession in the ultramafic maquis of New Caledonia. J Biogeogr 26:579–594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno JM, Oechel WC (1992) Factors controlling post-fire seedling establishment in southern California chaparral. Oecologia 90:50–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nanami S, Kawaguchi H, Tateno R, Li C, Katagiri S (2004) Sprouting traits and population structure of co-occurring Castanopsis species in an evergreen broad-leaved forest in southern China. Ecol Res 19:341–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nishimura S, Yoneda T, Fujii S, Mukhtar E, Kanzaki M, Ohta S (2011) Sprouting traits of Fagaceae species in a hill dipterocarp forest, Ulu Gadut, West Sumatra. J Trop Ecol 27:107–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nzunda EF (2011) Sprouting, succession and tree species diversity in a South African coastal dune forest. J Trop Ecol 27:195–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nzunda EF, Griffiths ME, Lawes MJ (2007a) Multi-stemmed trees in subtropical coastal dune forest: survival strategy in response to chronic disturbance. J Veg Sci 18:693–700

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nzunda EF, Griffiths ME, Lawes MJ (2007b) Resprouting versus turning up of leaning trees in a subtropical coastal dune forest in South Africa. J Trop Ecol 23:289–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nzunda EF, Griffiths ME, Lawes MJ (2008a) Sprouting by remobilisation of aboveground resources ensures persistence after disturbance of coastal dune forest trees. Funct Ecol 22:577–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nzunda EF, Megan EG, Lawes MJ (2008b) Resprouting enhances seedling persistence in a subtropical coastal dune forest. Afr J Ecol 46:32–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ohkubo T (1992) Structure and dynamics of Japanese beech (Fagus japonica Maxim.) stools and sprouts in the regeneration of the natural forests. Vegetation 101:65–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ohkubo T, Tanimoto T, Peters R (1996) Response of Japanese beech (Fagus japonica Maxim.) sprouts to canopy gaps. Vegetation 124:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pate JS, Froend RH, Bowen BJ, Hansen A, Kuo J (1990) Seedling growth and storage characteristics of seeder and resprouter species of Mediterranean-type ecosystems of S.W. Australia. Ann Bot 65:585–601

    Google Scholar 

  • Pigott CD (1993) Are the distributions of species determined by failure to set seed? In: Marshall C, Grace J (eds) Fruit and seed production. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 203–216

    Google Scholar 

  • Poorter L, Kitajima K, Mercado P, Chubina J, Melgar I, Prins HHT (2010) Resprouting as a persistence strategy of tropical forest trees: relations with carbohydrate storage and shade tolerance. Ecology 91:2613–2627

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reyes O, Casal M (2008) Regeneration models and plant regenerative types related to the intensity of fire in Atlantic shrubland and woodland species. J Veg Sci 19:575–583

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schulze RE (1997) South African Atlas of agrohydrology and climatology. Report TT82/96. Water Research Commission, Pretoria

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanner EVJ, Bellingham PJ (2006) Less diverse forest is more resistant to hurricane disturbance: evidence from montane rain forests in Jamaica. J Ecol 94:1003–1010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanouchi H, Yamamoto S (1995) Structure and regeneration of canopy species in an old-growth evergreen broad-leaved forest in Aya district, southwestern Japan. Vegetation 117:51–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas CM, Davis SD (1989) Recovery patterns of three chaparral shrub species after wildfire. Oecologia 80:309–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinley KL (1985) Coastal Dunes of South Africa. South African National Scientific Programme. Foundation for Research Development, Pretoria

    Google Scholar 

  • Verdú M (2000) Ecological and evolutionary differences between Mediterranean seeders and resprouters. J Veg Sci 11:265–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vesk PA, Westoby M (2004) Funding the bud bank: a review of the costs of buds. Oikos 106:200–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wells PV (1969) The relationship between mode of reproduction and extent of speciation in woody genera of the California chaparral. Evolution 23:264–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White PS, Pickett STA (1985) Natural disturbance and patch dynamics: an introduction. In: Pickett STA, White PS (eds) The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics. Academic Press, New York, pp 3–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiens D, Calvin CL, Wilson CA, Daven CI, Frank D, Seavey SR (1987) Reproductive success, spontaneous embryo abortion, and genetic load in flowering plants. Oecologia 76:501–509

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamada T, Suzuki E (2004) Ecological role of vegetative sprouting in the regeneration of Dryobalanops rappa, an emergent species in a Bornean tropical wetland forest. J Trop Ecol 20:377–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamamoto S, Nishimura N, Matsui K (1995) Natural disturbance and tree species coexistence in an old-growth beech-dwarf bamboo forest, southwestern Japan. J Veg Sci 6:875–886

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife and the iSimangaliso Wetland Park authority for permission to conduct fieldwork at Cape Vidal. The authors thank Zivanai Tsvuura for field assistance. Financial support from the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Focus area: Conservation and Management of Ecosystems and Biodiversity; GUN:2069339), the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Mazda Wildlife Fund is gratefully acknowledged.

Author information

Author notes

  1. E. F. Nzunda

    Present address: Department of Forest Mensuration and Management, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O. Box 3013, Chuo Kikuu, Morogoro, Tanzania

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological and Conservation Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, P/Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209, South Africa

    E. F. Nzunda & M. J. Lawes

  2. Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, 0909, Australia

    M. J. Lawes

Authors
  1. E. F. Nzunda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. J. Lawes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. J. Lawes.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nzunda, E.F., Lawes, M.J. Costs of resprouting are traded off against reproduction in subtropical coastal dune forest trees. Plant Ecol 212, 1991–2001 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-011-9991-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-011-9991-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation