FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Melilotus alba | White Sweetclover 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
White sweetclover seeds have hard, impermeable seed coats, and may
remain dormant in soil seed banks for years.  The heat from a fire
breaks the seed coat, allowing the seed to germinate.  Where soil-stored
seed is present, burning is stimulatory, resulting in abundant seed
germination and seedling establishment [15,18,23].

Second-year plants present as buds on the caudex may survive
dormant-season burns, as they are located about 2 inches (5 cm) below
the ground surface [34].  On the Curtis Prairie in Wisconsin,
second-year white sweetclover was abundant in the spring following
dormant season fall burns [18].  Actively growing second-year plants,
however, are easily killed by fire.


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Caudex, growing points in soil
   Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)

Related categories for Species: Melilotus alba | White Sweetclover