FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Chrysolepis chrysophylla | Giant Chinquapin 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Following fires which kill aerial stems, giant chinquapin resprouts via
dormant buds located on an underground regenerative organ known as a
burl [27,40,55,66].  Burls serve as a source of stored carbohydrates and
aggregations of dormant buds, enabling giant chinquapin to rapidly
occupy the initial postburn environment [38,47].  Burl development also
enhances survival after repeated burning [2,55].  On favorable growth
sites within redwood and mixed-evergreen forests, tree forms attain
large diameters and develop thick bark which may enable them to survive
light underburns [40].  During a good seed crop year, surviving stems
may act as seed trees.  Sticky bur fruits may be transported to the burn
site in the fur of mammals [66].


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Tree with adventitious-bud root crown/root sucker
   Tall shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
   Crown residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
   Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)

Related categories for Species: Chrysolepis chrysophylla | Giant Chinquapin