FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Betula glandulosa | Bog Birch 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Intense fires in black spruce types occur following exceptionally dry
periods or under dry, windy conditions [56].  Such fires can completely
remove organic soil layers and leave the roots of shrubs exposed, thus
eliminating the ability of bog birch to resprout from basal buds [34,66].
Most fires, however, do not remove the entire organic soil layer, and
bog birch is able to resprout from the base of the stem following these
fires.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
After the removal of aboveground vegetation by fire, bog birch resprouts
quickly from the stem base [20,40].  It sprouts best when organic soil
layers are not destroyed by fire [20,66].

After wildfires in black spruce forests of interior Alaska bog birch
often increases in density (stems/unit area) for the first 5 postfire
years due to continued sprouting [14,57].  It may continue to increase in
density or cover for 25 to 55 years after the fire [14,56].  As the black
spruce canopy develops bog birch density decreases, but it will persist
in canopy openings when spruce grows in a clumped arrangement [3,14,56].

On wet sites in the arctic near treeline, repeated fires often result in
shrub thickets composed of green alder, willows, and bog birch [55].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
In the contiguous United States, areas occupied by bog birch often act
as natural fire breaks due to saturated substrates [18].  However, many
sites will carry a fire late in the growing season after soils and
vegetation become drier.  Along low gradient stream channels, fires may
reduce the buffering and filtering capacity of the site during the next
year's runnoff, thus increasing the chances of erosion [29].

Related categories for Species: Betula glandulosa | Bog Birch