FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Mimosa biuncifera | Catclaw Mimosa 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Fires generally top-kill catclaw mimosa.  By itself, it provides little
fuel because of its open growth form and because its small leaves
contribute very little to ground fuels when they drop [25].  However,
the fuel of surrounding plants is often enough to ignite catclaw mimosa
and cause its stems to burn off [25].  Catclaw mimosa commonly occurs in
Arizona chaparral where wildfires are often severe, defoliating all
aboveground vegetation and leaving only charred stems and a layer of ash
over mineral soil [31].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Following top-kill by fire, catclaw mimosa survives by producing
numerous sprouts from the root crown [6,20].  Because plants usually
survive fire, density is generally not affected by burning.

Although catclaw mimosa was not abundant in a study in desert
mountain shrub vegetation in the Guadalupe Mountains, sampling of
several 3- to 7-year-old burns showed that its frequency was greater on
burned than on unburned sites [1].

Rapid regrowth allows plants to fully recover preburn cover within about
5 years [25,32].  Regrowth of top-killed catclaw mimosa plants was
observed following several lightning- and man-caused fires in and near
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico.  Here, top-killed plants
sprouted and grew 8 to 10 inches (20-25 cm) in one growing season [25].
Following prescribed spring burns in desert grasslands and oak woodlands
in southeastern Arizona, sprouts of catclaw mimosa regained 58 to 67
percent of plant preburn heights within two growing seasons as
summarized below [3].

                 Emory oak/Arizona white oak       desert grassland 
                          woodland

date sampled        mean height of plants        mean height of plants 
                  burned area  control area    burned area  control area
                   inches/cm    inches/cm       inches/cm    inches/cm

Aug 1983 (prefire)  21.8/55.4    17.8/45.4       25.2/63.9    18.7/47.4

Aug 1984 (3 months   8.9/22.6    17.5/44.7        4.9/12.5    11.5/29.2
          postfire)

Aug 1985 (15 months 14.6/37.0    16.4/41.7       14.6/37.0    15.8/40.1
          postfire)


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Species: Mimosa biuncifera | Catclaw Mimosa