• IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT
• DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT
• PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE
• DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE
• FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS

IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT:

Desert wheatgrass burns quickly and is therefore less susceptible to fire damage than some bunchgrass species [19]. In especially thick bunchgrasses, the fire may stay longer in the culm, resulting in heat transfer to the ground and the death of the plant. In desert wheatgrass, there is usually little heat transfer into the soil, so the tillers and root system are usually undamaged [18,86,96].

DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT:

No entry

PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE:

Fire usually burns crested wheatgrass above ground but underground parts survive [62,96].

Few researchers have studied the effects of fire on desert wheatgrass stands. Kay [56] burned a sagebrush community that had been broadcast seeded to a mixture of desert wheatgrass, tall wheatgrass (Elytrigia elongata), and intermediate wheatgrass (E. intermedium) to study the effects of burning on forage species. The community also contained cheatgrass. The study site was 30 miles (50 km) east of Redding, California, on Blue Mountain, at 2,200 feet (700 m). It was burned in September of 1957. Desert wheatgrass was probably still in summer dormancy. The author classified the cheatgrass-fed fire as a “hot grass fire.” Wheatgrass frequency for the three seasons prior to burning was 64.5, 62.5, and 65.0 %, respectively. The grasses were ungrazed for the 3 years preceding the burn. In two measurements following the fire, in the following spring and fall, stocking rates of all wheatgrass species increased to 90%. The author concluded that the increase in stocking rate was primarily due to the rhizome production of intermediate wheatgrass. Desert wheatgrass did not appear to be as stimulated by the fall burn as intermediate wheatgrass.

DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE:

No entry

FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:

Desert wheatgrass is characterized as slightly damaged by prescribed fire [78], with a moderate to slow recovery period of 5 to over 10 years [92].

Desert wheatgrass may suppress pine reestablishment following wildfires in the southwestern United States, at least in part due to soil moisture competition [18].

Related categories for SPECIES: Agropyron desertorum | Desert Wheatgrass