FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Rosa acicularis | Prickly Rose 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Fire usually kills aboveground parts of prickly rose.  Severe fires
which remove organic soil horizons kill shallow rhizomes or portions of
rhizomes, leaving alive only those rhizome portions growing in mineral
soil.  


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Prickly rose sprouts following fire and may also establish seedlings
[1,25,77,85,90].  Rowe [66] has observed that depth of sprouting buds is
site-specific in sprouting species and may vary in different regions of
the continent.  Prickly rose recovery from fire appears to vary by
region and site.  In Alaska, prickly rose rhizomes grow in mineral soil,
and the plant is found on nearly all recently burned sites [10,45].  The
severity and timing of the fire and site factors appear to be very
important to prickly rose response in western Canada and the Rocky
Mountains [30,65,67].  In northeastern broadleaf forests, prickly rose
is not as fire tolerant as other associated shrubs.  It recovers well
after light fires but is infrequent following more severe fires [93].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
Alaska and northwest Canada:  In Alaskan black and white spruce stands,
prickly rose's habit of rooting in mineral soil allows it to survive
fires that consume all or most of the deep organic layers and to
flourish in early succession [11,25].  Following early summer wildfires
in black spruce stands ranging in age from 50 to 125 years and in aspen
woodlands, prickly rose responded rapidly and vigorously, greatly
increasing its cover over prefire values [82,91].  After fires which do
not burn to mineral soil in Alaskan spruce forests, it sprouts but may
not be as vigorous [80].  In Alaska's taiga, repeated fires at lower
elevations may lead to meadows dominated by bluejoint reedgrass
(Calamagrostis canadensis), sedges (Carex spp.), and prickly rose [77].
In northern British Columbia, frequent fires or repeated burning can
convert white spruce and aspen forests on valley slopes to shrub
communities which include prickly rose as a dominant [54].

Western Canada and Rocky Mountain States:  In the sub-boreal spruce zone
of British Columbia prickly rose increases in abundance following fire
on moist sites but decreases on drier sites [30].  Prickly rose was a
dominant in some British Columbia and Alberta subalpine fir and
Engelmann spruce stands 8 years after fire [7].  It resprouted promptly
on moist sites in a dry Douglas-fir stand in Montana following a
wildfire [15].  On Montana rough fescue grassland, prickly rose did not
regain its prefire dominance until the second year following a fall fire
[67].  In spring following a fall grassland fire in Saskatchewan,
substantial patches of prickly rose showed no sign of sprouting and were
apparently killed [65].  Annual spring burning over a 24-year period
severely reduced the frequency and cover of prickly rose in Alberta
aspen parkland [4].

Great Lakes Region:  In the Great Lakes region, prickly rose is less
frequent on severely burned sites than on lightly burned sites although
its degree of dominance is similar for burned and unburned sites [1].
Results from a study of both spring and summer wildfires in Minnesota
mixed conifer-hardwood stands showed reduced frequency for prickly rose.
Most postfire plants were sprouts, but some plants apparently started
from seed [43].  However, in another Minnesota study the biomass of
individual prickly rose plants increased after a mid-May wildfire,
nearly doubling from the second to the fifth postfire sampling date
[53].  Thirty-three years after another Minnesota wildfire, prickly rose
is still of some importance in mixed stands containing aspen, birch and
jack pine, although it appears to be a remnant of early postfire
succession [52].  In Ontario jack pine stands, prickly rose is a stable
species that is present before and after prescribed fires [50].


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Clearcutting followed by slashburning was sufficiently severe to sharply
reduce prickly rose survivors in Alaskan white spruce stands.  Since at
least some rhizomes in mineral soil survived, it was able to recover,
although more slowly than following clearcutting alone [21].  Prickly
rose sprouts after fire in black spruce, but it is not competitive with
black spruce [12].

Related categories for Species: Rosa acicularis | Prickly Rose