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Extensive clonal propagation and resprouting drive the regeneration of a Brazilian dry forest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2021

Renato Soares Vanderlei Open the ORCID record for Renato Soares Vanderlei [Opens in a new window] ,
Maria Fabíola Barros ,
Arthur Domingos-Melo ,
Gilberto Dias Alves ,
Ana Beatriz Silva  and
Marcelo Tabarelli
Renato Soares Vanderlei*
Affiliation:
Botany Department, Federal University of Pernambuco. Rua Professor Moraes Rego, Cidade Universitária. 50.670-901. Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Maria Fabíola Barros
Affiliation:
Botany Department, Federal University of Pernambuco. Rua Professor Moraes Rego, Cidade Universitária. 50.670-901. Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil Programa de Capacitação Institucional (PCI), Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Av. Magalhães Barata, 66040-170, Belém, Pará, Brazil
Arthur Domingos-Melo
Affiliation:
Botany Department, Federal University of Pernambuco. Rua Professor Moraes Rego, Cidade Universitária. 50.670-901. Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Gilberto Dias Alves
Affiliation:
Botany Department, Federal University of Pernambuco. Rua Professor Moraes Rego, Cidade Universitária. 50.670-901. Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
Ana Beatriz Silva
Affiliation:
Botany Department, State University of Santa Cruz, Rodovia Ilhéus – Itabuna, Salobrinho, km 16. 46.662-900. Ilheus, Bahia, Brazil
Marcelo Tabarelli
Affiliation:
Botany Department, Federal University of Pernambuco. Rua Professor Moraes Rego, Cidade Universitária. 50.670-901. Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
*
Author for correspondence: *Renato Soares Vanderlei, Email: renato.vanderlei@gmail.com
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Abstract

Woody plant resprouting has received considerable attention in the last two decades as human disturbances continue to encroach on terrestrial ecosystems globally. We examined the regeneration mechanisms of a Caatinga dry forest in the context of slash-and-burn agriculture and resprouting ability of the local flora. We excavated two old fields (from 32) experiencing early forest regeneration dominated by the tree Pityrocarpa moniliformis (Fabaceae) to map clonal propagation and, in parallel, submitted 260 seedlings from 13 woody plant species to experimental clipping. What seemed to be ‘seedlings’ popping up around P. moniliformis stumps and remaining adults actually were condensed sets of root suckers connected via complex networks of long, ramified shallow horizontal roots without taproots. We mapped respectively 39 and 783 connected root suckers, which summed 96 m and 910 m in root length. Regarding the seedlings, 33% resprouted across nine species with resprouting rates varying between 5–100%. Seedling height before clipping positively influenced resprouting vigour. Our preliminary results suggest that the Caatinga dry forest supports a relatively high proportion of resprouting species, some of them able to clonally propagate and playing an ecosystem-level role by responding to early forest regeneration and high abundance/biomass across both regenerating and old-growth forests.

Keywords

Anthropogenic disturbancesclonal root systemforest regenerationforest resiliencehuman-modified landscapesseasonally dry tropical forestslash-and-burn agriculture
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , January 2021 , pp. 35 - 42
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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