FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Gaylussacia baccata | Black Huckleberry 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Most fires kill aboveground portions of black huckleberry [31,32].  Buds
on unburned, but heated aboveground stems are usually dead, indicating
that black huckleberry buds are very sensitive to heat.
Moderate-severity or severe fire that burns the humus layer may kill
many of the rhizomes, killing the plant [32].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Surviving rhizomes sprout from dormant buds following fire [6,7].
Sprouting depends on the release of hormonally suppressed buds following
the death of the dominant aboveground stem [32].  Sprouting of plants
top-killed by fire does not differ in vigor from sprouting of clipped
plants, indicating that heat is not a factor in stimulating sprouting
[32].

A single low-severity fire usually encourages prolific black huckleberry
growth [30].  Vigorous black huckleberry thickets with high stem
densities arise after low-severity fire [33].  Annual growth of black
huckleberry stems increased considerably in the first growing season
after a low-severity March fire in the New Jersey pine barrens.  The new
sprouts formed a closed canopy by August of the same year, but growth
rates diminished rapidly the second year [32].

Brayton and Woodwell [6] compared the response of black huckleberry to
light and heavy fire damage from a crown fire which occurred in
September.  The degree of fire damage was measured using several factors
including the amount of charcoal in the soil and the amount of litter
remaining.  At this Long Island, New York, site black huckleberry
rhizomes were generally in the humus layer and the top 1 inch (2.5 cm)
of the A1 soil horizon.  Where heavy damage occurred (a large amount of
charcoal, no litter, and no standing shrub stems), black huckleberry
sprouts were restricted to rhizomes that were 0.6 to 1.4 inches (1.5-3.5
cm) beneath the soil surface.  In areas with light damage, sprouts
originated from rhizomes 0 to 0.8 inches (0-2 cm) beneath the soil
surface.  The postfire density of black huckleberry was 11 stems per
square meter in the heavily damaged area and 72 stems per square meter
in the lightly damaged area.  The authors concluded that fire damaged
the perennating buds on rhizomes in the heavily damaged areas [6].

In a south-central New York oak forest, black huckleberry neither
increased nor decreased after a single spring fire when compared to
adjacent unburned communities [49].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
Effects of repeated burning on black huckleberry vary and may depend on
plant community and availiability of light.  Buell and Cantlon [7]
investigated the effects of fire frequency on an upland oak forest in
New Jersey with a well-developed shrub layer.  Low-severity prescribed
fires were conducted in the winter at 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 10-, and
15-year intervals.  Black huckleberry showed long-term decline in percent
cover at fire intervals of 5 years or less.  Black huckleberry had 40
percent cover on unburned control plots and 3 percent cover on plots
burned annually for 10 years.

In a black oak savanna in Indiana, two plots were prescribed burned:
one plot was burned four times in 8 years (3 spring fires and 1 fall
fire) and the other plot was burned five times in 8 years (3 spring and
2 fall fires).  Black huckleberry decreased from prefire levels with
progressive fires [2].

In little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) grasslands in Connecticut
with up to 40 percent woody cover of clonal shrubs, black huckleberry
increased in cover with annual spring fires that were conducted while
plants were still dormant.  Cover of an established black huckleberry
thicket on one tract increased four times over prefire levels after 12
annual spring fires [35].  The ability of black huckleberry to increase
its cover on this site despite the high fire frequency may be related to
the high availability of light.  Black huckleberry takes advantage of
light with vigorous growth [31].


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
In New Jersey, biomass nutrient concentrations of a heath, shrub, and
herb vegetative group which included black huckleberry did not differ
depending on site fire history.  Sites which had burned by wildfire
(usually severe) did not differ significantly (P>0.05) from those that
had undergone prescribed burning (low-severity) or from the control
which had not burned for 53 years.  In addition, nutrient levels in the
humus were similar among sites despite differing fire histories [3].

Stergas and Adams [45] determined macronutrient concentrations, ash
content, heat content, and ash-free heat content for black huckleberry
foliage in four different-aged jack pine (Pinus banksiana) stands.  Ash
content ranged from 4.38 percent to 4.83 percent.

Litter depth did not affect black huckleberry stem production or growth
after fire or after clipping of stems to simulate fire [32].

Related categories for Species: Gaylussacia baccata | Black Huckleberry