FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Fendlera rupicola | Fendlerbush 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Little information is available regarding fendlerbush fire ecology and
adaptations.  Erdman [7] suggested that fendlerbush probably recovers
after fire by sprouting from the root crown.  Pinyon-juniper communities
where fendlerbush is commonly found historically burned every 10 to 30
years, which favored dominance by grasses.  However, for the last 70
years, heavy livestock grazing has reduced grass competition and fuel,
and shrub cover has increased.  This has decreased fire occurrence and
lowered the intensity of fires that do occur [27,28].  On 23 grazed
transects in desert shrub communities where fendlerbush occurs in the
Guadelupe Mountains, New Mexico, shrubs had only 6.4 to 6.6 percent
cover.  Bare ground cover was 33.8 to 42.4 percent, and litter cover was
6.1 to 12 percent [25].


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Small shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
   Secondary colonizer - off-site seed

Related categories for Species: Fendlera rupicola | Fendlerbush