FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Geocaulon lividum | Northern Comandra 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Northern comandra is probably top-killed by most fires.  Survival of
rhizomes is dependent on depth of burial and fire severity.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Northern comandra is found in postfire communities in the taiga of
interior Alaska.  It may be present after fire in white spruce forests
on floodplains and river terraces on sites that are well drained, or in
black spruce forests that are poorly drained and underlain by
permafrost.  Northern comandra generally appears early in postfire
succession, increases slowly, and reaches greatest cover in late
successional, spruce-dominated forest.  Mean percent frequency (f) and
cover (c) of northern comandra in postfire communities on white spruce
or black spruce sites follow [10]:

                            White spruce              Black spruce
Stage                Postfire YR    f     c    Postfire YR   f     c 
_____________________________________________________________________          
Newly burned              0-1       0     0        0-1       2    <0.5 
Moss-herb                 1-5       4   <0.5       1-5       2    <0.5  
Tall shrub-sapling        3-30      9   <0.5       5-30      1    <0.5
Dense tree               26-45      0     0       30-55      28     1
Hardwood                 46-150     6   <0.5        --       --    --
Mixed hardwood-spruce      --      --     --      56-90      23     1
Spruce                  150-300+   60     3       91-200+    70     4

In northeast Alaska, northern comandra was present on one of four sites
in postfire year 4 following the Porcupine River Fire of August, 1950.
The fire had burned all or most of the undecomposed material present and
was considered "severe" on the site where northern comandra was found.
Northern comandra was present in postfire years 7 and 11, but was not
reported in postfire years 23 or 31 [11].

Northern comandra had the following percent frequency and cover in
severely burned stands after the Wickersham Dome Fire near Fairbanks,
Alaska in June of 1971 [33]:

                    Black spruce              Aspen 
                     f       c              f       c
_________________________________________________________________
1971                 5      .05            --       --
1972                10      .10             0        0
1973                15      .25             0        0
1974                 5      .05             0        0 
unburned control    90     2.60            20        .65      

In postfire succession in white spruce, black spruce, and balsam fir
(Abies balsamifera) stands on Isle Royale, Michigan, northern comandra
increases with stand age.  It remains relatively unimportant in stands
less than 100 years old, then steadily increases until stands reach 200+
years of age [16].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Species: Geocaulon lividum | Northern Comandra