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(American Journal of Botany. 1998;85:1207-1215.)
© 1998 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

Resiliency and response to hurricane disturbance in atropical shrub, Ardisia escallonioides (Myrsinaceae), in southFlorida

JohnB. Pascarella1,a

a Department of Biology,University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33124–0421,2

The resiliency to hurricane disturbance and the response toposthurricane environmental conditions were examined in the tropicalshrub Ardisia escallonioides (Myrsinaceae). Hurricane Andrewstruck three of four study sites in subtropical hardwood forests insouth Florida on 24 August 1992. Posthurricane understory light levelsin the disturbed sites ranged from 21 to 53% of full light in1993 and remained high in 1994; in contrast, light levels averaged only9% in the undisturbed forest. Significant differences inmortality, damage, and defoliation were observed among the threehurricane-damaged populations. Mortality was low, but adults sufferedhigh levels of damage and defoliation. Following the hurricane,populations in the most severely disturbed forests had more growth thanpopulations in lightly damaged or undamaged forests. Seed germinationand seedling growth were not associated with light availability. Nolong-term seed dormancy was observed. The observed response toposthurricane environmental conditions is consistent with understoryspecies that show release following canopy opening, but are able topersist under periods of canopy closure. The local dominance of thisspecies in many coastal forests in south Florida may be due to the highfrequency of hurricanedisturbance.

Key Words: Ardisiaescallonioides • hurricanes • life-historystrategy • Myrsinaceae • pioneer • shade-tolerant • regrowth • resiliency






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