FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Cercidium microphyllum | Yellow Paloverde 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
The thin-barked photosynthetic stems of yellow paloverde are killed by
fire [13].  Yellow paloverde may sprout from the root crown following
top-kill [39].

The temperatures of desert fires are variable due to fluctuations in
kinds and quantities of available fuel [104].  Heavy grazing in some
upland sites has eliminated the grass understory beneath paloverde
species and saguaro.  Grass species were replaced with bursage,
burroweed (Haplopappus tenuisectus), and snakeweed (Gutierrezia spp.).
This has lowered the fire frequency because there is insufficient fuel
to carry fires [70].  However, introduced annuals in other areas may
have increased both the frequency and the severity of fire [71,72].

Fires in the Sonoran Desert are generally infrequent and are low
severity due to low fuel loads [49].  However, fires can be relatively
common in the Sonoran Desert under appropriate conditions, especially
during the summer [39].  Two consecutive wet winters are probably needed
to develop fuel loads adequate to sustain fire.  Fire is frequent in
desert grasslands on the eastern edge of the Sonoran Desert [49].

The Sonoran savanna grasslands are subtropical, fire-climax grasslands.
Most of these communities were destroyed through grazing and other land
management practices by the 1940's.  Yellow paloverde grows in remnants
of these communities at their northern limits [8].


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Tree with adventitious-bud root crown/soboliferous species root sucker
   Tall shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
   Secondary colonizer - off-site seed

Related categories for Species: Cercidium microphyllum | Yellow Paloverde