FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Carex geyeri | Elk Sedge 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Fire may top-kill elk sedge, but rhizomes, sometimes buried as as deep
as 63 inches (160 cm) below the soil surface, usually survive [17,44].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
Following a clearcut and February broadcast burn in a
Douglas-fir-dominated forest in central Idaho, elk sedge cover remained
the same compared to cut but unburned sites [17].  Elk sedge was present
in small amounts on this low-elevation site.  On another higher site in
the same drainage, elk sedge cover was significantly reduced on the
broadcast burned sites compared to the unburned sites.  (Burns were
conducted in December).  Cover on the burned sites was half that of
cover on the unburned sites immediately following the burn and 2 and 5
years later.  At postfire year 10 cover on the burned site was 60
percent of the unburned site.  Elk sedge rhizomes may have been shallow
in these areas, and the fire could have destroyed them [17].

An early August prescribed fire in a Douglas-fir forest of central Idaho
drastrically reduced elk sedge frequency, from 52 percent to 12 percent,
by the second post-fire year [33].  By the fourth year, elk sedge had
increased to half of its prefire frequency and remained stable through
the seventh postfire year.

A prescribed burn in a mixed aspen-conifer forest in Idaho had little
effect on elk sedge cover, which remained similar to that on the
unburned sites [8].


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Elk sedge usually sprouts following fire and increases to form dense
cover [2,7].  It can, however, decrease following fire if rhizomes are
too close to the surface and become damaged [2,17].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
Following a July wildfire in Waterfalls Canyon, Grand Teton National
Park, elk sedge had a 50 percent frequency on moderately burned areas,
and a 67 percent frequency on severely burned areas [4].  These figures
were compared to a severe wildfire that burned 40 years earlier in an
adjacent area.  On the older burn elk sedge had a 58 percent frequency
the 40th postfire year, compared to a 47 percent frequency on unburned
sites.  Elk sedge cover was high on all sites but was particularly
abundant on the more recently burned site.

A prescribed fire to improve elk winter range was conducted in July on
the Clearwater National Forest, Idaho [32].  By the second growing
season, frequency of elk sedge on burned areas almost doubled compared
to unburned areas, where it remained stable.  Some plots on the burned
areas were seeded with elk sedge following the burn.  Frequency doubled
on these sites as well, but there was no significant difference in elk
sedge response between the seeded and unseeded sites.

Eight years following an August wildfire on the Bitterroot National
Forest, Montana, elk sedge had an average of a 2 percent cover [34].  No
prefire cover figures were given.


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
High-intensity broadcast burning is recommended in Douglas-fir/elk sedge
habitat types in Idaho following clearcutting in order to promote
natural regeneration of the same habitat type [18].

Periodic underburning in the Blue Mountains of Oregon has enhanced elk
sedge subjected to grazing pressure [20].

Equations for estimating fuel loadings from ground cover and plant
height have been developed for elk sedge [9].

Related categories for Species: Carex geyeri | Elk Sedge