• 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:

Sand dropseed is consumed rapidly by fire [120]. Individual plants are badly damaged [60,105] to completely killed by fire, with younger plants suffering less than older plants [64].

DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT:

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PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE:

The extent of damage imposed by fire upon sand dropseed is related to season of burn. Early spring burns show positive responses in sand dropseed. Within a western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii) community in South Dakota, a spring burn saw increased sand dropseed standing crop for 3 and 4 postburn years [134]. Results for two year successional spring burns in South Dakota also showed increased sand dropseed standing crop [134]. Spring burning in southern Nebraska was associated with positive sand dropseed response [115].

DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE:

A cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum)-sand dropseed-red threeawn grassland community in Utah was evaluated for 5 years to determine response to fire. The foliage cover (% of surface covered) before and after the fire (1956) was as follows [27]:

	1955	1957	1958	1960	1961
cheatgrass	37.9	64.2	55.5	59.2	63.3
sand dropseed	14.2	10.9	7.6	9.6	7.3
red threeawn	11.5	3.4	6.2	9.9	5.0

Few sand dropseed plants were completely killed by the fire [27].

FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:

In general sand dropseed has the ability to show positive responses to fire in conjunction with reduced competition from neighboring species [134].

Related categories for Sporobolus cryptandrus | Sand Dropseed