FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Ribes lacustre | Bristly Black Currant 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Fire that burns the organic soil probably kills bristly black currant.
Noste and Bushey [47] report that fire that removes the organic soil
layer will likely kill the shallow root systems of most Ribes spp.
Bristly black currant nearly disappeared from study sites after a severe
prescribed fire in central Idaho (see FIRE CASE STUDY) [42].
Low-severity fire probably top-kills bristly black currant.

Bristly black currant seeds contained in the organic mantle are
destroyed by severe fire [44].  However, seeds buried in mineral soil
probably survive most fire.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Numerous secondary sources suggest that bristly black currant sprouts
from the root crown and rhizomes after top-kill by fire [7,12,22,43,
47,77].  However, primary documentation of bristly black currant
sprouting from the root crown or rhizomes after fire was not found in
the literature.

Bristly black currant was present in the postfire ravine vegetation 1
year after a mid-summer wildfire in western Montana.  Although the fire
was generally severe, some ravine sites did not burn severely because of
the higher moisture content of plant material and soil.  Bristly black
currant plants recovered quickly in low-severity burn patches; the
mechanism of recovery (sprouting from rootstocks, rhizomes, or
adventitous stem buds) was not reported.  Maximum bristly black currant
postfire canopy cover was 2.5 percent 1 year after fire and 6.3 percent
2 years after fire [37].

Bristly black currant colonizes burned sites via long-lived buried seed
and/or seed carried on to the site by animals [64].  Regeneration
success after fire depends on site conditions and fire severity.  Severe
fire substantially reduces or delays bristly black currant establishment
[42].  Bristly black currant seedlings were present on 1 of 18 burn
sites 1 year after the Sundance wildfire in northern Idaho.  The fire
consumed the overstory, litter and duff; fire intensity ranged from
3,400 to 22,500 British thermal units per second per foot [63].
According to Steele and Geier-Hayes [61], bristly black currant and
sticky currant are common on scarified portions of past pile-and-burn
sites but rare on severely burned areas.  In western Montana bristly
black currant was 25.6 percent less frequent on burned slash pile sites
than on adjacent unburned scarified clearcut sites.  Postfire age of
sampled burned sites averaged 8.8 years [70].

Optimal conditions for bristly black currant establishment may not occur
until several years after fire.  In broadcast-burned clearcuts in
north-central Idaho, bristly black currant occurred in only 1 of 10
microplots in 1-year-old burns but was found on seven of nine microplots
in 3-year-old burns [75].  Severe hot or dry soil conditions associated
with some burns may discourage immediate colonization by bristly black
currant.  Lyon [42] suggests that optimal environmental conditions for
bristly black currant establishment may not occur on some sites until
other vegetation is established.

Bristly black currant recovery was slow after prescribed broadcast fires
in clearcut western larch (Larix occidentalis)-Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga
menziesii) forests in northwestern Montana.  Bristly black currant
disappeared from the most severely burned site (E-8), but appeared
within 8 years on three sites on which it had not been present in the
prefire vegetation.  Bristly black currant pre- and postfire canopy
cover follows [62]:

                              Year since fire

Site    prefire     1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8   postfire
        % cover                                                   duff (cm)

N-6        -        -     -     1     1     1     -     -     -     7.0
N-8        -        -     -     -     -     1     -     1     3     6.0
E-8        1        -     -     -     -     -     -     -     -     6.6
S-2        1        -     -     -     -     -     1     -     -     *
W-3        -        -     -     -     -     -     -     -     1     4.5

*Duff depth was not reported for the S-2 burn site.

Literature which contains fire response information for Ribes spp. in
general should be viewed with caution because of substantial differences
between co-occurring species.  In the above-mentioned study [62], sticky
currant rapidly colonized some burned sites, reaching a maximum canopy
cover of 11 percent after 4 years on a site from which it was absent
before fire [62].  Lyon [42] also documented rapid sticky currant
recovery after fire (see FIRE CASE STUDY).  Mueggler [45] combined Ribes
spp. when he reported they were considerably more frequent on burn sites
than unburned sites in grand fir and western redcedar (Thuja plicata)
forest associations in northern Idaho.  Bristly black currant and sticky
currant co-occur in these forests [14], and it is possible that only
sticky currant was doing well on burned sites in the first several
postfire years.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Nutrient content of shrub species was estimated for seven silvicultural
treatments including burning in the Coram Experimental Forest in
northwestern Montana [60].  The elemental content of bristly black
currant branches and leaves collected in July and August is presented [60].

Related categories for Species: Ribes lacustre | Bristly Black Currant