FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Hesperostipa spartea | Porcupine Grass 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Porcupine grass survives low to moderate severity fires due to
carbohydrate reserves stored in an underground root crown.  It lacks
rhizomes, and the root system is relatively shallow.  Severe fires can
kill the root crown, but such fires are rare on grasslands [48].

Fire was an important ecological factor on prairies containing porcupine
grass.  In the absence of fire, tree encroachment was common, and the
plant community often changed to forest within 30 years [3,50].


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   survivor species; on-site surviving root crown
   off-site colonizer; seed carried by animals or wind; postfire yr 1&2

Related categories for Species: Hesperostipa spartea | Porcupine Grass