Higher rates of liana regeneration after canopy fall drives species abundance patterns in central Amazonia

In tropical rainforest, most vascular plants have some capacity to resprout, and lianas are often effective resprouters after canopy fall. However, the diversity of resprouting responses of liana species and the consequence for plant persistence is poorly understood. We hypothesized that variation in regeneration among liana species causes differences in liana species abundance in tropical rainforest through differential resprouting capacity, such that liana species with higher densities produce more resprouts after canopy falls.
We applied a manipulative field experiment investigating the effect of different levels of disturbance on the production of resprouts and adventitious roots in ten liana species of the tribe Bignonieae (Bignoniaceae) with contrasting abundances in central Amazonia.  We selected 15 individuals of each species and assigned the lianas to three distinct conditions: (i) total canopy fall with lianas severely damaged and detached from trees; (ii) partial fall o...