FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Cercis canadensis | Eastern Redbud 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Eastern redbud is easily top-killed by fire but regenerates after fire
by sprouting.  Eastern redbud developed clusters of root sprouts after
being top-killed by a prescribed spring fire to discourage the
encroachment of woody species onto a south-central Ohio prairie [4].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
In North Carolina, a 1931 wildfire burned with varying intensity in a
35-year-old oldfield loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) stand.  Flowering
dogwood and estern redbud were the most abundant woody species in the
understory and in the shrub/seedling strata of the unburned area 9 years
after the fire.  Eastern redbud was recorded for the area that
experienced crown fires but was present at a lower density and frequency
than in the unburned stand.  No eastern redbud was recorded for the area
that had experienced surface fire.  No specific data on composition of
the plots prior to the fire was reported [39].

In Alabama, the relative dominance of eastern redbud decreased on plots
that were burned in spring and in fall, as measured from 1 to 3 years
after clearcutting and prescribed fire.  By 3 years after a
low-intensity spotty spring fire, however, average height of eastern
redbud was 17 feet (5 m) (as compared to 21 feet (6) on unburned plots).
On plots that had experienced a more uniform, intense fire, average
height of eastern redbud was 8 feet (2.4 m) only 1 year after the fire [28,36].

Germinable eastern redbud seeds were present in the seedbank but not
represented in the vegetation of a tallgrass prairie site that was
prescribed burned annually between 1978 and 1984.  The seeds were not
reported from unburned sites or from sites that experienced fire at
4-year intervals [2].

Average crude protein for eastern redbud was slightly higher on plots
that had been treated with herbicide and fire than on untreated plots [8].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
In Texas, chaining and burning live oak (Quercus virginiana), white oak
(Q. alba), Texas oak (Q. texana), and Ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei)
resulted in an increase in fire climax species, including Texas redbud.
Fires maintain root sprouters like Texas redbud in a low growing
condition.  Prescribed fire is recommended for these areas to cover
approximately 10 to 15 percent of the total area each year (resulting in
a 5- to 10-year rotation) [21].

Related categories for Species: Cercis canadensis | Eastern Redbud