FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Prunus emarginata | Bitter Cherry 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Bitter cherry sprouts vigorously following fire [19,64,79,97,134].
Approximately 15 to 50 sprouts per plant were produced after a
prescribed fire in northern Idaho [66,67].  Postfire regeneration also
includes germination from on-site seed [57,88,116], and probably also
from off-site seed dispersed by birds and mammals.  Prefire canopy
coverage is attained about 30 to 40 years following fire [97].

In ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests of eastern Washington and
the northern Rocky Mountains, where bitter cherry occurs, fire return
intervals of 6 to 22 years [131] and 6 to 11 years (range of 2-20 years)
[4] have been described.  In western Montana at the Burdette Creek
winter range, Losensky [75] describes mean fire-free intervals of 37
years.


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Tall shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
   Small shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
   Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
   Secondary colonizer - off-site seed

Related categories for Species: Prunus emarginata | Bitter Cherry