Drivers of post‐fire resprouting‐based resilience of co‐occurring species in Mediterranean SE Spain

Abstract Resprouting is a major mechanism of post‐fire persistence in Mediterranean woody plants, but quantifying its contribution to resilience is difficult when pre‐disturbance data are unavailable. We assessed post‐fire resprouting‐based resilience in nine co‐occurring woody species from southeastern Iberia and tested whether its drivers were consistent across species. We developed species‐specific allometric equations from unburned individuals to estimate pre‐fire biovolume. Resilience was quantified as the normalized biovolume recovery rate (NBRR), based on the ratio between post‐fire biovolume measured 10–12 years after fire and estimated pre‐fire biovolume. We then modelled NBRR as a function of microenvironmental conditions, fire severity, climatic niche position and plant size. Allometric models successfully estimated pre‐fire biovolume and enabled resilience quantification. All species resprouted, and six exceeded their estimated pre‐fire biovolume. However, resilience drivers varied among species. Environmental harshness reduced resilience in three species, fire severity increased resilience in four species under predominantly low‐to‐moderate severity, and larger pre‐fire individuals generally showed lower recovery, whereas climatic niche position did not explain resilience. Plant‐level biovolume modelling provides a practical framework to quantify post‐fire resilience in resprouting species when pre‐fire data are lacking. Strong interspecific variation in resilience drivers suggests that complementary responses among co‐occurring species may enhance resilience at the community level.