FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Equisetum arvense | Field Horsetail 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Field horsetail usually occurs in moist habitats that do not undergo
frequent fire.  For example, in Idaho and Montana, it occurs in Fire
Group 11 stands (as described by Bradley and others), which have a
fire-return interval of 325 to 335 years (plus or minus 50 years).  When
fires do occur, however, they are often severe due to high fuel loads.
Field horsetail is adapted to survive such fires; it has deep rhizomes
that are not killed by even very hot fires [52].  Field horsetail also
colonizes disturbed areas or new sites by wind-disseminated propagules,
although this is probably rare [7].


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
   Geophyte, growing points deep in soil
   Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
   Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)

Related categories for Species: Equisetum arvense | Field Horsetail