resprouts

Resprouts are new shoots that arise from existing plant tissue after damage, rather than from seeds. They originate from latent meristematic tissue in trunks, roots, or basal organs and are common in many woody perennials and some herbaceous species. Resprouting forms include epicormic shoots, basal shoots, and sprouts from lignotubers or root crowns.

Epicormic shoots emerge from dormant buds beneath bark; basal resprouts arise at the root collar or base of the stem; lignotubers store carbohydrates and sprout after disturbance. Some plants also produce clonal colonies through root suckering, yielding genetically identical ramets that can persist after damage.

Ecologically, resprouting provides rapid regrowth after fire, grazing, cutting, or other disturbance, maintaining canopy with less reliance on seedling establishment. It supports resilience in fire-prone and drought-prone ecosystems and influences succession, biomass dynamics, and carbon stores. In forestry and restoration, resprouting affects management approaches such as coppicing, pollarding, or post-disturbance rehabilitation.

Traits vary widely among taxa and are shaped by species, age, health, resources, disturbance severity, and stored reserves. Some taxa are strong resprouters (epicormic or basal), while others seldom resprout. Environmental conditions and prior history strongly modulate the extent and form of regrowth.

Examples include trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides), which forms extensive root-sprout clones after disturbance, and many woody shrubs in fire-adapted ecosystems that resprout from buds or lignotubers.