• FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS
• POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY

FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS:

Little specific information is available on adaptions of Letterman's needlegrass to fire. It is morphologically similar to Columbia needlegrass, which is only slightly to moderately damaged by fire [34,69]. Other needlegrasses such as Thurber needlegrass (Achnatherum thurberanium) tend to suffer more serious damage [34].

Season of burn affects the plant's ability to survive a fire. Needlegrasses tend to be more susceptible to fire when burned during mid-summer [68].

Fire regimes for plant communities in which Letterman's needlegrass occurs are summarized below. For further information regarding fire regimes and fire ecology of communities where Letterman's needlegrass is found, see the 'Fire Ecology and Adaptations' section of the FEIS species summary for the plant community or ecosystem dominants.

Community or Ecosystem	Scientific Name of Dominant Species	Fire Return Interval Range in years (mean)
Pacific ponderosa pine	Pinus ponderosa var. ponderosa	1-47
Rocky Mountain ponderosa pine	P. p. var. scopulorum	2-10 [10]
Rocky Mountain lodgepole pine	P. contorta var. latifolia	25-300+ [4,50]
Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir	Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca	40-140 [9]
coastal Douglas-fir	P. menziesii var. menziesii	95-242 [36,49]
California montane chaparral	Ceanothus and/or Arctostaphylos ssp.	50-100 [10]
basin big sagebrush	Artemisia tridentata var. tridentata	12-43 [52]
mountain big sagebrush	A. t. var. vaseyana	5-15 [70]
mountain grasslands	Pseudoroegneria spicata	3-40 (10) [4]
plains grasslands	Bouteloua gracilis and/or Buchloe dactyloides	20-40 [10]

 

POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY:

Tussock graminoid
Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)

Related categories for SPECIES: Achnatherum lettermanii | Letterman Needlegrass