Resprouting increases seedling persistence likelihood after fire in a semelparous bamboo species

Chusquea culeou is a semelparous bamboo species which dominates the understorey of temperate forests and shrublands of Patagonia, South America. After the massive flowering, seeding and subsequent die-off, it provides an extraordinary amount of fine and dry fuel that increases wildfire likelihood, which in turn threatens the survival of its own offspring. In this context, we tested if this species could have alternative survival mechanisms which allows the persistence of the single seedling cohort, specifically evaluating two stages: seed and seedling. After a massive flowering event that occurred in summer 2010–11 and reached a regional scale in north-western Patagonia, we experimentally tested: 1) the effect of heat (90 °C, 120 °C, 150 °C) and/or ash on germination capacity of C. culeou seeds; and 2) the effect of low to moderate intensity fires on resprouting response of seedlings (