FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Leymus cinereus | Basin Wildrye 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Information on the effects of fire on basin wildrye is scant.  It is
generally considered to be quite resistant to fire mortality [14,81].
The coarse stems and leaves of basin wildrye are remarkably resistant to
high-intensity burning [58] and are generally less prone to prolonged
burning than are fine-leaved bunchgrasses such as Idaho fescue (Festuca
idahoensis) [80,82].  During burning little heat is transferred downward
into the crown, and basal buds located at or just below the surface of
the ground are not subjected to prolonged heating.  Although basin
wildrye plants are frequently reduced to charred stubble and typically
exhibit reduced basal diameters immediately after fire, the majority
survive and resprout.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Basin wildrye is generally sprouts after fire and recovers quite rapidly
on most sites [46,67,71].  Sprouting typically occurs from basal buds.
Apparently some ecotypes are also able to regenerate via rhizomes;
however, the literature contains little information on rhizome location
or depth.  Residual plant survival appears to be the predominant mode of
postburn regeneration in this long-lived bunchgrass.

Basin wildrye exhibits considerable ecotypic variation in seed habits
[27,73,78], but yield, viability, and germination of wildrye seed from
central Great Basin stands is typically quite low [86].  Seedbed
requirements for this grass are virtually unstudied, and it is not known
whether exposed mineral soil is more conducive than litter for
successful seedling establishment.  Presumably off-site seed sources
play a limited role in the postburn reestablishment of basin wildrye.

Individual postburn plant response in basin wildrye is sometimes quite
dramatic [15,28] (See Fire Case Study).  Fall burning is usually the
least damaging to basin wildrye [75,82].  Plants also recover rapidly
from early spring burning [8,28,40,77].  In Washington, Daubenmire [21]
observed that basin wildrye remained vigorous and productive following
repeated annual burning (season not indicated) in basin wildrye/inland
saltgrass habitat types.

Trends in postburn frequencies and coverages of basin wildrye have
received little documentation.  Even though production is consistently
enhanced after fire, in many degraded plant communities throughout the
Great Basin, basin wildrye does not occur in sufficient quantities to
contribute significantly to postburn vegetative cover.  On many sites,
postfire abundance of basin wildrye does not change significantly for
the first several years [28,67,77].  In big sagebrush/Thurber
needlegrass (Festuca thurberii) communities in Nevada, densities of
basin wildrye remained constant at 0.02 plants per square meter for 2
years after a mid-season wildfire; densities during the third and fourth
postburn years declined to 0.01 plants per square meter when sites were
subjected to intense cheatgrass invasion.  Researching successional
patterns on a series of increasingly older burns within
sagebrush-grassland communities in southeastern Idaho, Humphrey [38]
reported that basin wildrye was prominent in almost all stages of
vegetational development.  On these sites, cover of basin wildrye
gradually increased to a maximum relative cover of 6 percent on
17-year-old burns.  Basin wildrye was present but less abundant on 25-
to 35-year-old burn sites.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Species: Leymus cinereus | Basin Wildrye