FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Drosera rotundifolia | Round-Leaved Sundew 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Frequent fire is necessary to maintain some of the bog habitats in which
round-leaved sundew grows.  In these locations fire suppression has led
to the invasion of woody species from the surrounding forest.  Frequent
surface fires remove the young woody plants advancing from bog edges.
Where woody vegetation is dense and has lowered the water table, fires
can be severe and may alter the subsequent composition of the vegetation
[45].

On moist savannahs of the southeastern coastal plain, fire suppression
has resulted in the exclusion of shade-intolerant species including
round-leaved sundew.  Mesic savannahs succeed to flatwoods; wet
savannahs are quickly invaded by pocosin shrubs in the absence of fire.
When severe fires reduce peat depth or remove peat, grass-dominated
wetlands may replace the prefire vegetation [3].

Fire is important in lowland peat communities in Alaska.  Sphagnum
development is slow after fire and burned peatlands are often invaded by
sheathed cottonsedge.  This results in a shift from wet sphagnum bogs to
tussock communities.  Round-leaved sundew, which inhabits the sphagnum
bogs, is able to survive on sphagnum hummocks between tussocks of
sheathed cottonsedge [5].

Many bogs may escape fire because of high water tables, or occur in
cold, wet climates with very long fire intervals.
  


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)
   Secondary colonizer - off-site seed

Related categories for Species: Drosera rotundifolia | Round-Leaved Sundew