Abstract: Plant species that resprout after fire reallocate carbon from belowground to aboveground to produce new shoots. Thus, the ability of species to assimilate carbon and accumulate carbon reserves after fire could affect persistence of species in fire-prone habitats. The objective of this research was to determine if photosynthetic rates of resprouts vary among species with different post-fire recovery strategies, leaf characteristics, and growth habits. We measured resprouts of 11 species in scrubby flatwoods shrublands in Florida. Our study species included shrubby oaks, ericaceous shrubs, and palmettos. All study species recover after fire by resprouting, and four species also recover via seedling recruitment. We measured photosynthetic rates and specific leaf area (SLA) of five to eight individuals of each species in sites approximately 11 months post-fire. We also counted the number of resprouts per individual of eight shrub species, measured total stem leaf area of focal stems of four shrub species, and measured total leaf area of the two palmetto species. We found that photosynthetic rates differed among species when measured on a leaf area basis. Differences among species were not related to post-fire recovery strategy. SLA differed among species, with palmettos having lower SLA than most other species. Mean photosynthetic rates were marginally positively correlated with mean SLA across species. Mean photosynthetic rates were negatively correlated with mean number of resprouts per individual. For the seven species for which foliar nitrogen data for individuals in sites one year post-fire were available, photosynthetic rates were not correlated with foliar percent nitrogen. When scaled to stem leaf area, photosynthetic rates differed among species due to differences in total leaf area per stem. Photosynthetic rates on a leaf area basis differed between palmetto species, but when scaled to total plant leaf area, photosynthetic rates did not differ due to differences in total leaf area between palmetto species. In conclusion, variation in post-fire photosynthetic rates among species appears to be more related to differences in growth habit than to differences in leaf characteristics or post-fire recovery strategy.
