FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Fouquieria splendens | Ocotillo 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Ocotillo bark contains resin and wax which allow it to burn easily
[69].  Its seeds probably do not survive for long in the soil [78] and
seedlings are not known to establish in recently burned areas.  Ocotillo
does sprout from the root crown following damage from fire, but its
sprouting ability is probably dependent on fire severity [73].  Fires
that occur when ocotillo is leafless (as it is for much of the year) may
be less harmful than those that occur when the plant is actively growing.

Fires in general are not prevalent over much of the range of ocotillo.
Although desert vegetation rarely burns completely due to a lack of
continuous fuels, unusually heavy winter rains may produce a cover of
annual species dense enough to carry a fire when cured.  Fires resulting
from this situation tend to occur at the desert shrub-desert grassland
ecotone [28], or in tobosa (Hilaria mutica) or sacaton (Sporobolus spp.)
swales [27], which are common habitats for ocotillo.  Thomas [63] has
estimated that fire frequency in the Sonoran Desert is over 250 years,
but has cited references suggesting that fire intervals in adjacent
desert grasslands may be as short as 3 to 40 years.  During the period
of 1973 to 1979, 210 fires burned in the Lower Colorado and Arizona
Upland subdivisions of the Sonoran Desert [52].


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

Related categories for Species: Fouquieria splendens | Ocotillo