FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Lycium berlandieri | Berlandier Wolfberry 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Severe fires may kill Berlandier wolfberry but low- to moderate-severity
fires probably only consume its aerial portions.  Many small Berlandier
wolfberry plants were "completely destroyed" by a fire in savanna
vegetation in southern Texas [7].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Berlandier wolfberry frequency was significantly (p<.01) reduced
following a fall prescribed fire at the Welder Wildlife Foundation
Refuge in southern Texas.  Prefire frequency was 15 percent while
frequency in postfire year 1 was 4 percent.  Postfire canopy cover was
83 percent less than prefire cover.  The area was dominated by mesquite
(Prosopis glandulosa), huisache (Acacia farnesiana), and seacoast
bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium var. littoralis) and had been
pretreated with shredding, chopping, or scalping 2 years earlier to
produce fuel sufficient for a uniform burn.  There was significantly
(p<.05) less brush cover on pretreated than on untreated sites.
Berlandier wolfberry had the following percent canopy cover in postfire
year 1 under the different treatments [7]:

Treatment                    Burned             Unburned
__________________________________________________________
Control                       0.1                  0.5
Shredded                     Trace                 0.2
Chopped                      Trace                 0.1
Scalped                      Trace                 0.2
  
Brush canopy reduction, including that of Berlandier wolfberry, was
greatest at this site when treated plots were burned in the fall or
winter of 2 successive years, rather than once [8].

On the Rio Grande Plains of southern Texas, buffelgrass (Cenchrus
ciliaris) pastures have been invaded by woody species such as mesquite
(Prosopis spp.), blackbrush acacia (Acacia rigidula), twisted acacia (A.
tortuosa), Berlandier wolfberry, and others.  Two cool-season prescribed
fires were applied to a buffelgrass pasture, one in February 1977 and
one in February 1979, to control woody species invasion.  Both fires
reduced brush species to ground level.  However, the suppression of
growth was short-lived and canopy diameters (including that of
Berlandier wolfberry) had recovered to prefire levels by the end of the
first growing season following the initial fire.  Mortality was
insignificant even after the second fire.  The fires did allow a
cumulative increase in forage production of buffelgrass for up to three
postfire growing seasons [17,18].

Wolfberry species sprouted rapidly after controlled June fires in
Sonoran desert scrub vegetation near Phoenix, Arizona.  The
well-developed wolfberry root systems escaped damage from the fire,
allowing them to capitalize on increased water and nitrogen availability
in the postfire environment.  Wolfberries had established their former
density and cover by 35 postfire months.  Wolfberry plants had similiar
responses in both open shrub and tree microhabitats [26].

Wolfberry species sprouted and seedlings established within 3 years
following a June wildfire in a Sonoran Desert scrub community near
Phoenix, Arizona.  No information was given on fire severity or
intensity [33].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Box and White [8] recommended fire for controlling woody species on
southern Texas savanna communities dominated by mesquite (Prosopis
glandulosa), huisache, and seacoast bluestem.  Fall and winter burning
effectively reduced brush canopy and frequency, although fall burning
was slightly more effective.  Fire was not particularly useful unless
sites had been mechanically pretreated to create a uniform fuel bed.
Best results are probably obtained by waiting a sufficiently long time
following mechanical treatment for crushed woody fuel to dry and a crop
of herbaceous species to mature among the woody debris.

Frequent fires in mesquite-hackberry-Berlandier wolfberry communities on
southern Texas plains may convert the vegetation to seacoast
bluestem-brownseed paspalum (Paspalum plicatulum)-balsamscale (Elyonurus
tripsacoides) associations [28].

Fires are not prevalent in many desert communities due to wide spacing
between shrubs and sparse ground cover [9,21].  Unusually heavy winter
rains, however, may produce a cover of annual species dense enough to
carry a fire when cured [21].  Many perennial desert shrubs are poorly
adapted to fire [9].  Postfire recolonization by long-lived desert
shrubs is very slow initially and may take hundreds of years [9,33].
Rogers and Steele [33] suggested a conservative approach when using fire
to manage desert regions.

Related categories for Species: Lycium berlandieri | Berlandier Wolfberry