FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES : Amelanchier alnifolia | Saskatoon Serviceberry 


FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Fire adaptations:  Saskatoon serviceberry sprouts from the root crown
and/or rhizomes after fire [9,19,48,95].  Bradley [19] concluded that
because Saskatoon serviceberry sprouts from existing plants, fire is
not likely to alter its frequency unless plants were in poor condition
before fire.  After light- to moderate-severity fire, it usually sprouts
from the root crown or from shallowly buried rhizomes [19].  However,
deeply buried rhizomes enable Saskatoon serviceberry to sprout after
even the most intense wildfire.  For example, the Sundance Fire on the
Kaniksu National Forest of northern Idaho was an intense, running crown
fire that reached firestorm proportions in the Pack River Valley.  (The
fire broke out on Aug. 23, 1967.)  Saskatoon serviceberry sprouts were a
principle component of Pack River Valley vegetation at postfire year 1,
with 12 percent frequency and 4 percent cover [93].

Seedling establishment is apparently not an important postfire
regeneration strategy.  After wildfire in quaking aspen-paper birch in
northern Saskatchewan, a single Saskatoon serviceberry seedling was
found at postfire year 2 on one of seven plots [108].  Leege [62] found
an occasional Saskatoon serviceberry seedling after prescribed burning on
the Clearwater National Forest of northern Idaho, but the seedlings
survived for only a few postfire years.  Stickney [93] found that on 21
plots on the Sundance Burn, 100 percent of Saskatoon serviceberry
regeneration resulted from sprouting of burned plants.

Fire ecology:  Forests - Saskatoon serviceberry in forests is
fire-dependent and declines with fire exclusion [8,43].  It may persist
in the understory for decades, but eventually dies out with canopy
closure.  Through time-series photographs, Gruell [43] has documented
decline of Saskatoon serviceberry in ponderosa pine habitat types in the
Northern Rocky Mountains due to canopy closure with fire exclusion.

Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) - In sagebrush steppe in southeastern Idaho,
Saskatoon serviceberry was prominent on burn sites of all ages.  Field
sampling was conducted on 2- to 36-year-old burns [54].

Fire frequency:  Forests - Saskatoon serviceberry occurs in forests with
fire regimes varying from frequent, low-severity fire to infrequent,
severe fire.  In low-elevation forests, where Saskatoon serviceberry is
most common, the historical regime was frequent, low-severity fire
[1,2,8].  Wright [106] compiled historical fire frequencies of ponderosa
pine communities in which Saskatoon serviceberry occurs:

State(s)                          Fire Frequency
_____________________________     ______________
Arizona and New Mexico            4.8 - 11.9 yrs 
California and eastern Oregon       8 - 10 yrs
Colorado and Wyoming               12 - 25 yrs
western Montana                     2 - 48 yrs
South Dakota (Black Hills)         15 - 20 yrs
eastern Washington                  6 - 47 yrs

On the west slope of the Cascade Range of Washington, mean historical
fire return intervals in forests with Saskatoon serviceberry were [2]:

ponderosa pine-Douglas-fir*    52 years
lodgepole pine-Douglas-fir     76 years
Douglas-fir-grand fir**        93 years
_______________________________________
*Pseudotsuga menziesii
**Abies grandis
 


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Tall shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
   Geophyte, growing points deep in soil

Related categories for SPECIES : Amelanchier alnifolia | Saskatoon Serviceberry