FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Lonicera utahensis | Utah Honeysuckle 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Fire top-kills Utah honeysuckle.  Surviving plants will sprout from the
root crown.  Regrowth is slow [37].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Utah honeysuckle is a decreaser following fire in the cedar-hemlock zone
of the Rocky Mountains [87].  A site in southeastern British Columbia
was logged, burned, and planted with Engelmann spruce.  The burning
inhibited Utah honeysuckle growth compared to unburned sites after 3
years [83].  Fire in Douglas-fir zone in Montana and Idaho eliminated
Utah honeysuckle from study areas.  Before burning, Utah honeysuckle was
present at 2.9 plants per 1,000 square feet (2.9 plants/92.9 sq m).  One
to four years following the fire, no Utah honeysuckle plants were
recorded [47].  In Douglas-fir-western larch forests of Montana, cover
of Utah honeysuckle was 1 to 2 percent on several sites.  Following
clearcuts and prescribed burns, cover was 0 to 3 percent by postfire
year 2 and 6 percent by postfire year 8.  At one site, it was not
present until postfire year 5 and had 1 percent cover [72].

In spruce-fir forests of Montana, Utah honeysuckle neither increased nor
decreased following fire [82].  In Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming,
mean frequency (27 percent) and cover (9 percent) of Utah honeysuckle
were higher on unburned spruce-fir sites than on burned sites (differing
ages and severities).  On a 1-year-old moderate-severity burn, frequency
was 5 percent; on a 1-year-old severely burned site frequency was 3
percent; and on a 43-year-old severely burned site frequency was 2
percent [6].

There was no difference in frequency (52-67 percent) of Utah honeysuckle
in closed stands compared to logged sites and sites logged with slash
piled and then burned.  However, a single broadcast burn on logged sites
reduced honeysuckle frequency to 35 to 40 percent, and multiple
broadcast burns on logged sites reduced it to 25 percent [58,89].

In a 19-year-old clearcut with no postcut treatment in west-central
Montana, Utah honeysuckle biomass was 0.064 pounds per 10.8 square feet
(29 g/sq m).  In a 10 year-old stand that had been clearcut and
broadcast burned, Utah honeysuckle biomass was 0.01 pounds per 10.8
square feet (4 g/sq m) [64].

In a lodgepole pine forest in Montana, Utah honeysuckle was present in
the postfire community by year 2.  It remained constant for about 8
years and then increased for another 10 years.  Herbicides were applied
at postfire year 6.  Utah honeysuckle sharply decreased for 1 year;
after this, it steadily increased [46].  Based on growth curves
developed from lodgepole pine understory, projections were made about
Utah honeysuckle response following a clearcut and broadcast burn.  The
model assumed that all aboveground vegetation and duff were consumed,
and 30 percent of the area was exposed mineral soil.  Surviving Utah
honeysuckle were projected to have spacing similar to prefire
communities but with less cover.  Height of Utah honeysuckle was
expected to be 2 feet (0.61 m) at year 5 and about 3 feet (0.91 m) at
year 20 [37].

One year following a severe fire in northern Idaho, Utah honeysuckle was
present on six out of 21 sites.  On two sites, it achieved 3.28 square
feet per 0.004 acre (1 sq m/0.01 ha) cover at postfire years 6 to 11.
It was not an important species on the other sites [73].

Repeated fires in the cedar-hemlock zone of the northern Rocky Mountains
will maintain the seral shrub stage, of which Utah honeysuckle is a
component, for about 50 years [87].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
In grand fir/pachystima habitat types in Idaho, Utah honeysuckle fuel
loadings were 5 to 141 pounds per acre (2.3-64 kg/ha) [28].  Although it
was suggested that overstory removal would increase Utah honeysuckle
fuel loading, there was no significant (p>0.05) difference in Utah
honeysuckle cover following a mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus
ponderosae) epidemic that killed the lodgepole pine overstory [3].
Overall fuel loads are about 20 tons per acre (4.5 kg/sq m) in the moist
lower subalpine habitat types in which Utah honeysuckle occurs [19].
Utah honeysuckle stem diameters range from 0.12 to 0.67 inch (0.3-1.7
cm) [9].

Related categories for Species: Lonicera utahensis | Utah Honeysuckle