FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Lycium pallidum | Pale Wolfberry 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Severe fires may kill pale wolfberry, but low- to moderate-severity fires
probably only consume its aerial portions.  


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Specific information on the response of pale wolfberry to fire is not
available in the literature.  In general, 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 [27].

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 [35].

Berlandier wolfberry, a related species, was reduced by prescribed
fires in southern Texas [10,11,17], but the effects were short-lived and
canopy diameter had recovered to prefire levels by the end of the first
growing season following the fire [17].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Fires are not prevalent in many desert communities due wide spacing
between shrubs and sparse ground cover [12,21].  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 [12].  Wolfberries in particular may be susceptible to
repeated burning [27].  Postfire colonization by desert shrubs is very
slow initially and may take hundreds of years [12,35].  Rogers and
Steele [35] suggested a conservative approach when using fire to manage
desert regions.

Related categories for Species: Lycium pallidum | Pale Wolfberry