EFFECTS OF CUTTING AND RAINFALL PATTERN ON RESPROUTING VIGOR AND GROWTH OF ERICA-ARBOREA L

This study analyses the effects of recurrent cutting and rainfall patt ern on sprout and genet growth in the resprouting shrub EI ica arborea . Three different intervals between consecutive clear-cutting events w ere applied: 30, 5 and 2 yr. Above-ground genet biomass after 2 yr of treatment application was correlated with hurl size and decreased with increasing recurrence of cutting, indicating that more than 5 yr were needed to re-establish the resprouting potential of genets. The effec t of rainfall on growth was evaluated through the correlations between sprout RGR and several variables related to the rainfall pattern at d ifferent regeneration stages. The effect of the rainfall pattern on sp rout RGR was dependent on the regeneration age, suggesting that water availability becomes more limiting after two years of regrowth.