FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Quercus grisea | Gray Oak 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Gray oak is probably top-killed by fire.  Surviving individuals with a
shrubby growth form may sprout.  Sprouting information on gray oak with
a single trunk was not found in the literature.  However, McPherson [39]
asserts that all of the oaks of Arizona, which include gray oak, sprout
prolifically following top-kill by fire.  The acorns probably are killed
by fire.  Acorns covered by an insulating layer of soil may survive
low-severity fires.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
The response of gray oak to fire was not found in the literature.  If
surviving gray oak sprout following the removal of top-growth, gray oak
may reestablish dominance relatively quickly.  Site factors will
influence the length of time required to achieve prefire crown cover.
If establishment depends on off-site seed, rates of recovery will vary
depending upon the proximity of seed trees and on animal facilitation
and seed predation.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
The build-up of surface fuels is slow in the low productivity
pinyon-juniper savannas where gray oak occurs in Big Bend National Park,
Texas [42].  Fine fuels in pine-oak woodlands in the Park are mainly
grasses; grass fires leave trees intact.  On mesic Park sites in the
pine-oak woodland, low-growing gray oak and other shrubs rarely carry a
fire unless it crowns out [15].

A downed woody material summary is useful for assessing fire potential
and danger.  Downed woody material ranged from 2.8 to 9.2 cubic feet per
acre in pine-oak woodlands and from 40.1 to 81.7 cubic feet per acre in
moist woodlands [15].

Related categories for Species: Quercus grisea | Gray Oak