FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Carnegiea gigantea | Saguaro 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Fire top-kills saguaro, and it may kill existing seedlings [73].
Because there is a lag time between time of injury by fire and time of
death, postfire mortality may be underestimated [58].  Small saguaro,
less than 6.6 to 13 feet (2-4 m) tall, with large amounts of fuel at the
plant base do not survive.  Larger saguaro may survive with limited
damage [16,41].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Postfire recovery is dependent upon individual plant recovery and seed
dispersal from unburned plants [58].  Surviving saguaro with little or
no injury will resume growth [16].  Absorption of rain following
fire-caused injuries can result in fire scars splitting, which opens the
plant to insects and infections [73].

Vegetation surveys done the third and fourth years following an early
summer fire found no sprouting of saguaro and no seedlings [59].  Two
studies that compared burn and adjacent wildfire areas 2 years after
prescribed burning found that 100 percent of saguaro present in plots
had died.  Plots were read before and after fire.  There were no sprouts
or seedlings [16,17].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Fire would be an effective tool to control saguaro invasion or density
[68,73].

Along major highways in Arizona, motorist-caused fires have completely
eliminated the saguaro over large areas [58].

Related categories for Species: Carnegiea gigantea | Saguaro