FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Spartina patens | Saltmeadow Cordgrass 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Saltmeadow marshes were burned historically by muskrat trappers to
facilitate trapping.  Fires also occurred naturally from spontaneous
combustion and lightning strikes [32].  Burns conducted when the soil is
wet and wind absent cause little damage.  But burns conducted in periods
of extended drought cause the peaty humus to burn severely, resulting in
the destruction of both active and dormant plant parts and a lowering of
the marsh level, reverting it to a more hydric community [27].

Saltmeadow cordgrass is adapted to light fires and resprouts from
rhizomes [17,27].


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil

Related categories for Species: Spartina patens | Saltmeadow Cordgrass