FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Krascheninnikovia lanata | Winterfat 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Winterfat is either killed or top-killed by fire, depending on fire
severity.  Severe fire can kill the perennating buds located several
inches above the ground surface and thus kills the plant.  In addition,
severe fire usually destroys seed on the plant.  Low-severity fire
scorches or only partially consumes the aboveground portions of
winterfat and thus does not cause high mortality.

On a winterfat-dominated rangeland on the Snake River Plain in
southwestern Idaho, a severe wildfire in September 1981 resulted in 100
percent mortality of winterfat.  Herbage production was well above
normal that year and fuel levels were high.  Winterfat was consumed to
within 1 inch (2.5 cm) of ground level [68].

Pellant and Reichert [68] observed that on other severe burns on the
Snake River Plain, winterfat mortality is often about 95 percent, and
that surviving winterfat plants have at least 20 percent annual leader
growth remaining [68].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
There are conflicting reports in the literature about the response of
winterfat to fire.  In one of the first published descriptions (1967),
Dwyer and Pieper [27] reported that winterfat sprouts vigorously after
fire.  This observation was frequently cited in subsequent literature,
but recent observations have suggested that winterfat can be completely
killed by fire [68].  The response is apparently dependent on fire
severity.  Winterfat is able to sprout from buds near the base of the
plant.  However, if these buds are destroyed, winterfat will not sprout.

Winterfat sprouted vigorously after a "relatively" low-severity, April
fire on a true pinyon (Pinus edulis)-oneseed juniper (Juniperus
monosperma)-blue grama rangeland in New Mexico.  The surface fire moved
1,250 feet per hour (380 m/hr) through the dry grass fuel.  There was
less than 750 pounds of fuel per acre (840 kg/ha) in the open grasslands
[27].

Scorched winterfat sprouted after a July fire in a salt-desert shrub
community in the Curlew Valley of northwestern Utah.  Bottlebrush
squirreltail (Elymus elymoides) was the major fuel.  Subsequent
populations of winterfat on the site appeared "reduced" [100].

Pellant and Reichert [68] observed that regeneration of winterfat from
seed is rare after fire on the Snake River Plain, Idaho.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
In order for the salt-desert shrub communities to persist in the
presence of flammable annual grasses, either fire has to be prevented or
extensive rehabilitation has to follow each fire.  The costs of
rehabilitation after a cheatgrass fire can exceed 100 dollars per acre
[73].  Winterfat has been successfully seeded on burns [18,60], but the
price may be prohibitive.  In order to protect salt-desert shrub
communities from fire, greenstrip vegetative fuel breaks have been
created in some areas [67].

Burned sites should be seeded before cheatgrass is able to establish or
gain dominance.  On the Snake River Birds of Prey Area in southwestern
Idaho, winterfat was seeded with various perennial grasses on three
separate burns in the early 1980s.  Winterfat seedlings established and
matured, and by 1987, mature plants began producing seeds and new
seedlings established in 1988.  Seedlings were able to establish amid
considerable perennial herbaceous competition from primarily Sandberg
bluegrass.  Most winterfat seedlings occurred in areas where cheatgrass
cover was less than 10 percent.  Sandberg bluegrass controlled the
invasion of annual weeds and allowed for winterfat establishment [60].
Winterfat was seeded in December on a burn in Utah.  Nearly 1 percent of
winterfat seeds became established seedlings for an average density of
4,200 seedlings per acre (10,374/ha) [18].

Related categories for Species: Krascheninnikovia lanata | Winterfat