Stump Sprout Characteristics of Three Commercial Tree Species in Suriname

Abstract

We compared stump sprouting by three common timber species in Suriname on the basis of sprout origins on stumps, sprout densities, and sprout height:diameter ratios. We then compared some leaf and stem functional traits of 15–18-month-old resprouts and nearby conspecific saplings of the same height (0.5–3.5 m) but unknown age. Stumps of Dicorynia guianensis Amsh. (29–103 cm in diameter) produced the most sprouts (x = 9.2/stump), followed by the 50–71 cm diameter stumps of Eperua falcata Amsh. (10.6/stump), and the 30–78 cm diameter Qualea rosea Amsh. (5.9/stump); sprout density did not vary with stump diameter. Sprouts emerged from the lower, middle, and upper thirds of the stumps of all three species, but not from the vicinity of the exposed vascular cambium in Qualea. With increased resprout density, heights of the tallest sprout per stump tended to increase but height:diameter ratios increased only in Dicorynia. Compared to conspecific saplings, sprouts displayed higher height-diameter ratios, higher leaf-to-wood mass ratios (LWR), and lower wood densities, but did not differ in leaf mass per unit area (LMA) or leaf water contents. These acquisitive functional traits may reflect increased resprout access to water and nutrients via the extensive root system of the stump. That we did not encounter live stump sprouts from the previous round of selective logging, approximately 25 years before our study, suggests that stump sprouts in our study area grow rapidly but do not live long.

Stump Sprouting of Felled Trees of 33 Species in a Selectively Logged and Silviculturally Treated Forest in Suriname

“…As expected, at least at the community level, the likelihood of sprouting decreased with bark thickness. In contrast, within the three well-sampled species, sprouting did not vary with bark thickness perhaps because many sprouts on one of them (E. falcata) emerged from the exposed vascular cambium on the cut surface of the stump and thus avoided the need to penetrate the bark (Ramdial et al 2020). Also contrary to multiple reports in the literature (Lust & Mohammady 1973, Pelc et al 2011, we observed no relationship between canopy opening and whether or not stumps sprouted.…”

“…The capacity to sprout is of particular importance in ecosystems subjected to frequent large-scale natural disturbances such as hurricanes and fire (Byer & Weaver 1977, Ewel 1977, Stocker 1981, Uhl et al 1981. Stump sprouting also occurs after logging (Bellingham & Sparrow 2000, Del Tredici 2001, Fuashi et al 2020, Ramdial et al 2020) and slash-and-burn agriculture (De Rouw 1993, Peltier et al 2014 even in ecosystems where top-killing disturbances are uncommon and not considered important in the evolutionary history of the species. One explanation for the retention of the capacity to sprout is that, even in forests where cataclysmic events are infrequent, many woody plants suffer stem damage from smaller-scale disturbances such as branch and tree fall (e.g.…”

“…In contrast, coppiced stumps of several metres diameter have been in production for centuries in Europe (Rackham 1980). The number of sprouts per stump often increases with stump diameter until bark thickness, which increases with tree diameter, hinders bud emergence.…”

Trait ecology of startup plants

“…The simplest explanation for the higher LMA than seedlings might be that resprouts are generally larger and taller (prediction 6 in Table 1), and LMA is known to increase with height. Ramdial et al (2020) indeed found that stump sprouts had similar LMA compared to saplings of the same size in three Surinam tree species. Therefore on the limited evidence available, it might be that height affects LMA in the same way for saplings and for stump sprouts.…”

“…Ramdial et al . (2020) indeed found that stump sprouts had similar LMA compared to saplings of the same size in three Surinam tree species. Therefore on the limited evidence available, it might be that height affects LMA in the same way for saplings and for stump sprouts.…”