FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Carex bigelowii | Bigelow Sedge 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Fire generally top-kills Bigelow sedge.  High-severity fires may also
kill belowground vegetative portions.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Bigelow sedge generally recovers well following fire by sprouting or
seedling establishment.  After tundra fires in northwestern Canada,
large numbers of seedlings became established within 2 years and formed
a continuous layer within 6 years.  Recovery was due to increased
vegetative sprouting and seed germination followed by tillering [29].
Bigelow sedge became one of the most common plants on burned sites in
the growing season following a July fire on sedge tussock-shrub tundra
near Seward Peninsula, Alaska.  Frequency in burned sites was 63
percent, but only 17 percent in unburned sites [41].  The following
densities [shoots per sq foot (shoots/ sq m)] and frequency (f) and
cover (c) percentages were obtained following a moderate- to
high-severity fire in a birch shrub community near Seward Peninsula,
Alaska [28]:

             Prefire          Postfire yr. 1            Postfire yr. 2
             f    c          f    c    density         f    c    density
           --------------------------------------------------------------
Adults      10   10          0    0     0   (0)        5    1    1.2  (13)
Seedlings   --   --         10    1    1.2 (19)       10    3    2.3  (25)
Tillers     --   --          0    0     0   (0)       10    4    9.3 (100)

Chapin [7] found that Bigelow sedge leaf nitrogen and phosphorous
concentrations increased by 29 percent and 38 percent, respectively,
within 12 months following fire.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Species: Carex bigelowii | Bigelow Sedge