FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Taraxacum officinale | Dandelion 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
NO-ENTRY


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Dandelion generally establishes during the first or second postfire
year.  It usually increases in frequency after fire [22,36,41].  One
year after a spring burn (May 24, 1983) in Galena Gulch, Montana,
dandelion showed a 50 percent increase in frequency, but by the second
year showed only a 47.5 percent increase over the preburn level [22].

Dandelion increased in frequency following a fire in 1974 in a Scotch
pine forest in Scotland, but by postfire year 4, frequency started to
decrease.  Maximum frequency occurred at 3 years after fire [119].
Dandelion frequency was greater in burned than in unburned oak
communities in Utah [74].  Following a prescribed fire in a Douglas-fir
stand in south-central Idaho, dandelion frequency increased
significantly by postfire year 2.  Prefire frequency was 8 percent; at
postfire year 1 frequency was 4 percent; and at postfire year 2
frequency was 24 percent [78].

In the Hedges Mountain area of the Helena National Forest, Montana, a
sagebrush/rough fescue habitat type was burned in spring (May) and fall
(September).  Preburn and postburn community types, as named by the
dominant species, were compared.  Following the spring burn, bluegrass
and dandelion were the dominant species during both postfire years 1 and
2.  Following the fall burn, the dominant species during postfire year 1
were bluegrass, mountain brome (Bromus marginatus), and dandelion.  By
postfire year 2, dandelion was no longer a dominant; the site was
dominated by bluegrass, Wood's rose, and common snowberry [109].

A fire on June 28, 1977 in Montana in a rough fescue community minimally
disrupted reproduction and carbohydrate production of dandelion.  Its
frequency increased slightly on burned sites by the summer of 1978 [6].

In the timbered breaks along the Missouri River in central Montana,
dandelion was favored by big game animals every postfire year except
year 28.  At postfire year 17 dandelion was found at high frequencies.
First peak in frequency occurred at postfire year 4 [41].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Late spring burning in the tallgrass prairies of Kansas reduced
dandelion cover compared with burning at earlier dates.  In shortgrass
prairies of western Kansas, dandelion was less affected by dormant
season (fall and winter) burns than by spring burns [20].  Burning to
decrease cover of dandelion on rangelands should be done in the spring
after growth initiation.  Annual burning in March or November in
Nebraska resulted in the highest total cover of dandelion.  Burning in
April decreased cover [46].

Following logging, bulldozing, and slash burning, dandelion will
establish in the open spots [14].

Dandelion competes with tree seedlings on burned sites.  Grasses
aerially seeded on burns may compete with and displace dandelion.  After
4 to 5 years of grass seeding on sites in Montana dandelion populations
eventually decreased [14].
  

Related categories for Species: Taraxacum officinale | Dandelion