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You are here >1Up Info > Wildlife, Animals, and Plants > Plant Species > Shrub > Species: Prunus emarginata | Bitter Cherry
 

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FIRE EFFECTS

SPECIES: Prunus emarginata | Bitter Cherry
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : Bitter cherry is top-killed or killed by severe fires [70,79,89]. High-severity fires favor bitter cherry [89]. Young [135] stated that bitter cherry is "unharmed to enhanced" by fire. However, bitter cherry mortality can be high when burning occurs while plants are actively growing. Approximately 14 percent of 36 mature bitter cherry died after a single spring (late March/early April) prescribed fire on a seral brushfield in northern Idaho [73]. Repeated spring burning of similar sites at 5-year intervals resulted in heavy bitter cherry mortality [70]. Seven plants sprouted following a fire in late March 1965. Of these, four resprouted after a second fire in May 1970, and two remained alive after a third fire in May 1975. Total mortality by 1976 was 86 percent. Leege [70] suggested that the tendency toward fire-induced mortality in bitter cherry was probably accentuated by the advanced phenologies of plants during the second and third fires. DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : NO-ENTRY PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : Bitter cherry sprouts from the root crown following fire [47,105]. Since root sprouting has been documented in bitter cherry [28] it probably also sprouts from roots after fire. It establishes from buried seed or seed dispersed onto burned sites [114]. Several studies have reported rapid recovery and substantial postfire increases in bitter cherry densities [16,33,112]. In an Oregon coastal brushfield, bitter cherry sprouted from roots 4 months after fire [138]. In an Oregon red alder (Alnus rubra)-dominated brushfield burned on August 9, 1974, bitter cherry started sprouting within 2 to 3 weeks. By November, bitter cherry was sprouting vigorously and stems were 3.3 feet (1 m) tall [106]. In Montana a prescribed fire occurred on April 13, 1988. Plots were observed from mid-July to mid-September. Bitter cherry sprout twig weights on burned plots exceeded twig weights on unburned plots by a factor of 4 on southwest-facing forested types and by a factor of 9 on a southeast-facing forested type [76]. In northern Idaho more bitter cherry sprouts are produced per surviving plant after spring fires than fall fires; however, sprout height is usually greater after fall fires. Bitter cherry recovery trends 1 year after a prescribed fire in seral brushfields in northern Idaho are presented below [73]: time of fire spring fall average # of basal sprouts per plant prefire 0.4 0.5 postfire 18.3 15.2 average height basal sprouts (ft) postfire 2.0 2.6 average crown diameter (ft) prefire 5.0 4.7 postfire 1.9 2.3 average crown height (ft) prefire 15.1 13.9 postfire 3.4 4.1 A seral brushfield in northern Idaho was prescribed burned in 1965, 1970, and 1975. Bitter cherry sprouted from the root crown and a few seedlings were observed. The average prefire crown height and diameter were 8.4 feet and 1.6 feet, respectively. Bitter cherry recovery trends 2 years after the prescribed fires are presented below [70]: year 1966 1971 1976 maximum crown height (ft) 5.2 5.5 4.1 maximum crown diameter (ft) 2.2 2.5 2.0 Idaho studies investigating postfire successional patterns in a western redcedar (Thuja plicata)/queencup beadlily (Clintonia uniflora) habitat type found that bitter cherry regenerated predominantly from seedbanks. Seedling establishment was affected by fire severity. Bitter cherry seedlings had greatest percent cover on low-severity burns in postfire years 1 to 3; in postfire years 4 and 5, bitter cherry seedling percent cover was greatest on high-severity burns [87,89]. A seral brushfield in northern Idaho was prescribed burned on May 2, 1966; all aboveground vegetation was "totally consumed". In May 1967, 257 bitter cherry seedlings were observed. By May 1968, 14 bitter cherry seedlings remained [69]. In northeastern Idaho, on a May 14, 1975 prescribed burn, seven bitter cherry seedlings were observed in postfire year 2. By postfire year 4, four seedlings remained [71]. In Oregon a Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziezii) clearcut was prescribed burned in late fall. Bitter cherry seedlings were present postfire year 1 on the burned site but were not present in adjacent virgin forest [33]. In Oregon 240 acres (96 ha) of a Douglas-fir watershed was harvested over a 4-year period from the fall of 1962 to the summer of 1966. It was broadcast burned in October 1966. Bitter cherry reached peak abundance about 10 years after fire [39]. In north-central Idaho in a grand fir (Abies grandis)/pachistima habitat type, 36 stands representing 1, 3, 8, 12, and 23 year age classes and 7 near-climax stands were clearcut and broadcast burned. Canopy cover and height of bitter cherry for each age class were as follows [136]: canopy cover height (%) inches centimeters age class 1 0.1 9 22 3 0.1 17 44 8 0.4 25 63 12 0.9 49 122 23 0.3 38 95 near-climax 0.0 -- -- In the western Cascades bitter cherry was absent from undisturbed old-growth Douglas-fir stands, but was abundant on Douglas-fir plantations that were clearcut and broadcast burned 2 to 40 years ago. Shrub dominance decreases at 20 to 30 years with canopy closure [108]. DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : NO-ENTRY FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : Bitter cherry is a member of the seral brush community in northern Idaho. These brushfields provide excellent habitat for elk. Bitter cherry is one of the dominant shrubs after fire, but grows out of reach of browsing animals within several years. If brushfields are not maintained by fire, coniferous forest may eventually establish and large ungulate habitat will be lost [42,45,92,124]. Bitter cherry was found to have greater frequency and crown cover on single broadcast burned sites than on unburned and piled-and-burned sites [92].

Related categories for Species: Prunus emarginata | Bitter Cherry

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Information Courtesy: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Fire Effects Information System

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