Ecology of sprouting in woody plants: the persistence niche

Many woody plants can resprout and many ecosystems are dominated by resprou ters. They persist in situ through disturbance events such as fire, floodin g or wind storms. However, the importance of 'persistence' in plant demogra phy has been neglected in favour of 'recruitment' Thus much research on pla nt regeneration, conservation and evolution has focused on the importance o f safe sites, seed and seedling banks, dispersal and germination with the i mplied importance of de novo replacement rather than persistence. Recent re search shows a growing appreciation for the role of sprouting as a form of persistence in a diversity of ecosystems and tradeoffs between the two rege neration modes.