AllRefer - Species: Canada Thistle | Cirsium arvense: FIRE ECOLOGY


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FIRE ECOLOGY

SPECIES: Cirsium arvense | Canada Thistle

FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY

FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS:

Canada thistle is adapted to both survive fire on site, and to colonize recently burned sites with exposed bare soil. The extensive root system gives it the ability to survive major disturbances as observed, for example, at Mt. St. Helens, where Canada thistle was part of the initial community after the 1980 eruption. It survived landslide and resprouted from root and stem fragments after the blast [2,45,217]. Similarly, the roots can survive fires of varying severity and produce new shoots [189]. Additionally, there are numerous examples from the literature where Canada thistle seedlings established from wind-deposited seed, anywhere from 2 to 9 years after fire [3,56,123,139,159,191,220,243].

Canada thistle may change the fire ecology of the site in which it occurs by its abundant, flammable aboveground biomass. For example, in boreal wet-meadows, Canada thistle has the potential to increase fire frequency and perhaps severity as a result of its abundant and readily ignited litter [100].

The following table provides some historic fire regime intervals for habitats in which Canada thistle may occur:

Community or Ecosystem	Dominant Species	Fire Return Interval Range (years)
silver fir-Douglas-fir	Abies amabilis-Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii	> 200
grand fir	A. grandis	35-200 [9]
maple-beech-birch	Acer-Fagus-Betula	> 1000
silver maple-American elm	A. saccharinum-Ulmus americana	< 35 to 200
sugar maple	A. s.	> 1000
sugar maple-basswood	A. s.-Tilia americana	> 1000 [234]
bluestem prairie	Andropogon gerardii var. gerardii-Schizachyrium scoparium	< 10 [118,169]
Nebraska sandhills prairie	A. g. var. paucipilus-S. s.	< 10
bluestem-Sacahuista prairie	A. littoralis-Spartina spartinae	< 10
sagebrush steppe	Artemisia tridentata/Pseudoroegneria spicata	20-70 [169]
basin big sagebrush	A. t. var. tridentata	12-43 [192]
mountain big sagebrush	A. t. var. vaseyana	20-60 [10,30]
Wyoming big sagebrush	A. t. var. wyomingensis	10-70 (40**) [232,252]
coastal sagebrush	A. californica	< 35 to < 100
plains grasslands	Bouteloua spp.	< 35
blue grama-needle-and-thread grass-western wheatgrass	B. gracilis-Hesperostipa comata-Pascopyrum smithii	< 35
blue grama-buffalo grass	B. g.-Buchloe dactyloides	< 35
cheatgrass	Bromus tectorum	< 10
California montane chaparral	Ceanothus and/or Arctostaphylos spp.	50-100 [169]
sugarberry-America elm-green ash	Celtis laevigata-Ulmus americana-Fraxinus pennsylvanica	< 35 to 200 [234]
curlleaf mountain-mahogany*	Cercocarpus ledifolius	13-1000 [11,196]
mountain-mahogany-Gambel oak scrub	C. l.-Quercus gambelii	< 35 to < 100
northern cordgrass prairie	Distichlis spicata-Spartina spp.	1-3 [169]
beech-sugar maple	Fagus spp.-Acer saccharum	> 1000 [234]
California steppe	Festuca-Danthonia spp.	< 35 [169]
black ash	Fraxinus nigra	< 35 to 200 [234]
juniper-oak savanna	Juniperus ashei-Quercus virginiana	< 35
Ashe juniper	J. a.	< 35
western juniper	J. occidentalis	20-70
Rocky Mountain juniper	J. scopulorum	< 35
tamarack	Larix laricina	35-200 [169]
western larch	L. occidentalis	25-100 [9]
yellow-poplar	Liriodendron tulipifera	< 35 [234]
wheatgrass plains grasslands	Pascopyrum smithii	< 35 [169]
Great Lakes spruce-fir	Picea-Abies spp.	35 to > 200
northeastern spruce-fir	P.-A. spp.	35-200 [57]
Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir	P. engelmannii-A. lasiocarpa	35 to > 200 [9]
black spruce	P. mariana	35-200
conifer bog*	P. m.-Larix laricina	35-200 [57]
blue spruce*	P. pungens	35-200 [9]
red spruce*	P. rubens	35-200 [57]
pine-cypress forest	Pinus-Cupressus spp.	< 35 to 200 [9]
pinyon-juniper	P.-Juniperus spp.	< 35 [169]
whitebark pine*	P. albicaulis	50-200 [9]
jack pine	P. banksiana	<35 to 200 [57]
Rocky Mountain lodgepole pine*	P. contorta var. latifolia	25-300+ [8,9,188]
Sierra lodgepole pine*	P. c. var. murrayana	35-200 [9]
shortleaf pine	P. echinata	2-15
shortleaf pine-oak	P. e.-Quercus spp.	< 10 [234]
Colorado pinyon	P. edulis	10-49 [169]
South Florida slash pine	P. elliottii var. densa	1-5 [157,234]
Jeffrey pine	P. jeffreyi	5-30
western white pine*	P. monticola	50-200
Pacific ponderosa pine*	P. ponderosa var. ponderosa	1-47
interior ponderosa pine*	P. p. var. scopulorum	2-10
Arizona pine	P. p. var. arizonica	2-10 [9]
Table Mountain pine	P. pungens	< 35 to 200 [234]
red pine (Great Lakes region)	P. resinosa	10-200 (10**) [57,72]
red-white-jack pine*	P. r.-P. strobus-P. banksiana	10-300 [57,90]
pitch pine	P. rigida	6-25 [29,91]
eastern white pine	P. strobus	35-200
eastern white pine-eastern hemlock	P. s.-Tsuga canadensis	35-200
eastern white pine-northern red oak-red maple	P. s.-Quercus rubra-Acer rubrum	35-200
loblolly pine	P. taeda	3-8
loblolly-shortleaf pine	P. t.-P. echinata	10 to < 35
Virginia pine	P. virginiana	10 to < 35
Virginia pine-oak	P. v.-Quercus spp.	10 to < 35 [234]
eastern cottonwood	Populus deltoides	< 35 to 200 [169]
aspen-birch	P. tremuloides-Betula papyrifera	35-200 [57,234]
quaking aspen (west of the Great Plains)	P. t.	7-120 [9,82,142]
black cherry-sugar maple	Prunus serotina-Acer saccharum	> 1000 [234]
mountain grasslands	Pseudoroegneria spicata	3-40 (10**) [8,9]
Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir*	Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca	25-100 [9]
coastal Douglas-fir*	P. m. var. menziesii	40-240 [9,154,184]
California mixed evergreen	P. m. var. m.-Lithocarpus densiflorus-Arbutus m.	< 35
California oakwoods	Quercus spp.	< 35 [9]
oak-hickory	Q.-Carya spp.	< 35[234]
oak-juniper woodland (Southwest)	Q.-Juniperus spp.	< 35 to < 200 [169]
northeastern oak-pine	Q.-Pinus spp.	10 to < 35 [234]
coast live oak	Q. agrifolia	<35 to 200 [9]
white oak-black oak-northern red oak	Q. alba-Q. velutina-Q. rubra	< 35 [234]
canyon live oak	Q. chrysolepis	<35 to 200
blue oak-foothills pine	Q. douglasii-P. sabiana	<35 [9]
northern pin oak	Q. ellipsoidalis	< 35 [234]
Oregon white oak	Q. garryana	< 35 [9]
bear oak	Q. ilicifolia	< 35 >[234]
California black oak	Q. kelloggii	5-30 [169]
bur oak	Q. macrocarpa	< 10
chestnut oak	Q. prinus	3-8
northern red oak	Q. rubra	10 to < 35
post oak-blackjack oak	Q. stellata-Q. marilandica	< 10
black oak	Q. velutina	< 35
live oak	Q. virginiana	10 to< 100 [234]
interior live oak	Q. wislizenii	< 35 [9]
blackland prairie	Schizachyrium scoparium-Nassella leucotricha	< 10
Fayette prairie	S. s.-Buchloe dactyloides	< 10
little bluestem-grama prairie	S. s.-Bouteloua spp.	< 35
tule marshes	Scirpus and/or Typha spp.	< 35 [169]
redwood	Sequoia sempervirens	5-200 [9,62,210]
western redcedar-western hemlock	Thuja plicata-Tsuga heterophylla	> 200 [9]
eastern hemlock-yellow birch	T. canadensis-Betula alleghaniensis	> 200 [234]
western hemlock-Sitka spruce	T. h.-Picea sitchensis	> 200
mountain hemlock*	T. mertensiana	35 to > 200 [9]
elm-ash-cottonwood	Ulmus-Fraxinus-Populus spp.	< 35 to 200 [57,234]

*fire return interval varies widely; trends in variation are noted in the species summary
**mean

POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY [206]:

Geophyte, growing points deep in soil
Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
Initial off-site colonizer (off-site, initial community)

Related categories for SPECIES: Cirsium arvense | Canada Thistle


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Content on this web site is provided for informational purposes only. We accept no responsibility for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by any person resulting from information published on this site. We encourage you to verify any critical information with the relevant authorities. Information Courtesy: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Fire Effects Information System