• 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:

Fire probably top-kills bush muhly. Burning causes at least short-term decline of bush muhly. Recovery time is thought to vary considerably [13,45] and is probably dependent on postfire weather and competition [4].

DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT:

No entry

PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE:

Information on regeneration of bush muhly after fire is lacking in the literature. Bush muhly probably establishes after fire by sprouting from the root crown and from soil-stored seed. Response to a single fire event may be favorable. Bush muhly's loosely arranged culms probably burn cooler and transfer less heat to the root crown compared to culms of more compact bunchgrasses. However, native bunchgrasses including bush muhly decline under repeated desert grassland fires enhanced by cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and red brome (B. rubens) [5].

Bushy muhly has shown poor establishment after fire in 2 studies, 1 of which involved a repeat burn. Near Tucson, Arizona, a late spring fire was conducted in 1992 to restore desert grassland invaded by Lehmann lovegrass. Seven native grasses including bush muhly were direct seeded after the fire. On 1 plot, sown in June 1992, bush muhly seedling density was 2.2 plants/m² in October 1992. Bush muhly failed to establish on a plot sown in August 1992. By 1993, bush muhly was the only direct-seeded grass that was absent from all plots. In June 1994, an arson-ignited fire burned the study plots. The plots were not reseeded after the arson fire but grasses established from soil-stored seed. Seedling density of bush muhly in October 1994 was 0.6 plant/m², the lowest of the 8 grass species present [4].

In another study near Tucson, bush muhly density 2 years after a management-ignited spring fire was 0.09 plant/m² on unburned plots compared to no plants on burned plots. The author stated that there were too few bush muhly plants on either treatment to draw definite conclusions [19].

DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE:

No entry

FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:

When ungrazed, bush muhly's dense grow may contribute to fire spread. It may be most susceptible to fire damage when growing beneath shrubs because of increased fuels and higher temperatures as shrubs burn.

Related categories for SPECIES: Muhlenbergia porteri | Bush Muhly