FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Marchantia polymorpha | Liverwort 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
NO-ENTRY


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Marchantia polymorpha is widely recognized as an initial or early
invader of burned sites [7,17,24,36].  It exhibits dramatic growth
following fire and in some cases attains 100 percent cover
[25,29,33,37].  Marchantia polymorpha dominates the early moss-herb
stage after a fire but does not persist through subsequent stages of
succession [21,35,46,48].  In Alaska and Canada, M. polymorpha colonies
are not present in preburn communities [40,41,53,54].

In northeastern Minnesota, cover of M. polymorpha on burned jack pine
(Pinus banksiana)-black spruce (Picea mariana) sites increased until
postfire year 3, but it was replaced by lichens (Peltigera spp.) by
postfire year 5 [1].

Marchantia polymorpha produced large spreading mats on thin mineral soil
and charred humus after a severe fire in New Jersey.  The mats persisted
for 2 to 3 years, then were replaced by shrubs and forbs [49].

In interior Alaska, M. polymorpha found in burned white spruce (Picea
glauca) and mesic black spruce types had the following frequency and
cover percentages [21]:

                    Years            White spruce           Black spruce 
Stage             since fire      frequency    cover     frequency    cover
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.  Newly burned       0-1            0          0           0         0
2.  Moss-herb          1-5           15          1           6         8
3.  Tall shrub-      3(5)-30          0          0          12         2 
        sapling  
4.  Dense tree       26-45 (WS)       0          0  
                     30-55 (BS)                              0         0

After the 1971 Wickersham Dome Fire near Fairbanks, Alaska, M.
polymorpha was present in severely burned black spruce and trembling
aspen (Populus tremuloides) stands but was not present in adjacent
unburned control plots or in lightly burned stands.  Marchantia
polymorpha attained its highest frequency the third year after the fire
when it reached 5 percent and 45 percent on black spruce and trembling
aspen sites, respectively.  Biomass production in grams per square meter
was as follows [52]:

                        Black spruce         Aspen 
                       -----------------------------
             1973          0.1                0.5
             1974          0.8               69.6

In Alaska, M. polymorpha was more predominant on well-drained sites than
poorly drained sites after fire due to the fact that exposed mineral
soil provided a more favorable seedbed [26].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Marchantia polymorpha revegetates areas where mineral soil has been
exposed.  Colonies aid in the renewal of the humus and prepare the soil
for the establishment of other vegetation [49].

Related categories for Species: Marchantia polymorpha | Liverwort