FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Sambucus racemosa ssp. pubens | Red Elderberry 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Fire effects vary with the season, severity and intensity of fire, site
characteristics, and the age and vigor of the plants.  However, fire
generally kills aboveground parts of S. racemosa ssp. pubens which
resprouts [12,112].  Sprouting can occur from dormant buds on the stems
following a very light fire.  If stem buds are killed in a higher
severity fire, sprouting can occur from rhizome or rootcrown buds,
depending on the variety [12].  A very severe fire might expose and kill
the rhizome or rootcrown and thus the plant.  Fire also scarifies buried
seed, and germination usually occurs the first growing season following
the fire [39].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
All S. racemosa ssp. pubens varieties can survive either by sprouting
from rootcrowns or rhizomes, or by colonizing a site from seed stored in
seed banks [44].  Repeated fires may reduce elderberries [71].  Because
of its quick resprouting, S. racemosa ssp. pubens had the third largest
volume of all shrubs by the second year following prescribed fire in
central Idaho [58,59].  Most studies simply record the presence of S.
racemosa ssp. pubens after fire, so few details of its precise fire
response are available [10,26,60,94,105,117,121,122].

Variety arborescens responds most vigorously from buried seed
[35,50,67,68,104].  In Oregon, for example, clear cutting and spraying
with 2,4,5-T resulted in 650 seedlings per acre on north aspects
(1606/hectare) and 40 seedlings per acre (99/hectare) on south aspects.
The same site was then burned, resulting in 1,640 seedlings per acre
(4,052/hectare) on north aspects and 2,240 seedlings per acre
(5,535/hectare) on south aspects [104].  A coastal British Columbia study
only recorded the presence of var. arborescens early in succession [47].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Browsing:  S. racemosa ssp. pubens appears to be well adapted to both
fire and browsing.  Postfire data from a 1936 fire in an aspen-paper
birch (Populus tremuloides-Betula papyrifera) community are presented
below [88].

 Year      Exclosure (no browsing)        Control (browsing by moose)
          Stems/acre   Stems/hectare      Stems/acre    Stems/hectare

 1949        13.4           33               10.1            25
 1966        23.5           58               16.6            41
 1982         6.5           16               23.5            58

Apparently fire stimulated regeneration of S. racemosa ssp. pubens.
Without browsing, it increased until it was overtopped by aspen and
paper birch, then began to decline.  With browsing it increased more
slowly, but browsing kept overall stem density and height reduced, and
S.  racemosa ssp. pubens was still increasing in density 46 years after
the fire.

Competition:  On moist sites along the Oregon coast var. arborescens and
var. melanocarpa may be part of a postfire seral shrub community that
severely competes with tree seedlings, although elderberries are seldom
primary competitors [27,35,92,108,119].  Ruth [92] suggests first piling
slash in brush areas to increase fuels, then burning and planting tree
seedlings to give them a head start.  He also suggests that chemicals
may offer some control and that slashing competing vegetation may
release tree seedlings.  Combinations of chemicals, mechanical
treatment, and fire apparently increased the number of S. racemosa ssp.
pubens seedlings [50].  The same problem occurs on moist sites in
British Columbia, and immediate planting on those sites is recommended
since few seral shrubs are present before burning [22].  Burning before
harvest to induce shrub sprouting and seed germination in Oregon
brushfields, then burning again to kill those seedlings and sprouts, has
also been suggested [62].

Related categories for Species: Sambucus racemosa ssp. pubens | Red Elderberry