FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Empetrum nigrum | Black Crowberry 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Fire top-kills black crowberry; moderate or severe fires also readily
kill underground parts close to the soil surface [14,35].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Black crowberry is slow to recover following fire [5,48,50].  In
Labrador, black crowberry decreased significantly in frequency and
abundance following fire.  Preburn frequency was 61 percent, while
postburn frequency was 0 percent after 5 years [14].  It also showed
little or no recovery in 2- or 7 year-old burns in the Seward Peninsula,
Alaska [35].  In the Wickersham Dome Fire near Fairbanks, Alaska, black
crowberry in black spruce stands responded differently in lightly and
heavily burned areas.  In the lightly burned sites, percent cover was
1.4, 1.1, 0.9, and 1.25 in postfire years 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively.
However, in the heavily burned sites, black crowberry cover was 0
percent in the 4 years immediately following the fire [46].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Species: Empetrum nigrum | Black Crowberry