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Wildlife, Animals, and Plants |
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FIRE EFFECTS
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT:Gray horsebrush is top-killed by fire [33]. DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT:No entry PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE:Gray horsebrush rapidly establishes by sprouting from the root crown and profuse seed production after fire [5,8,33,42,55,64,65,69]. Though it is usually reduced the 1st postfire year, it quickly recovers and exceeds prefire herbage production [45]. Its coverage may double by the 3rd year after fire, and after 12 years, it may increase to 5 times its prefire coverage [7,38,42,46,64]. Gray horsebrush colonizes sagebrush communities after fire [65], sometimes establishing in thick stands [5]. Approximately 30 years after fire, gray horsebrush begins to decline [38,42,46,64], although its production may still be as much as 60% higher than in unburned areas [64]. A study of big sagebrush-grass communities in Wyoming reported that while individual gray horsebrush plants' production increased following a fire, an overall increase in density of the species was not observed by postfire year 2 [51]. Research in a big sagebrush community on the Upper Snake River Plains reported profuse sprouting by gray horsebrush after a prescribed burn in August. By postfire year 3, sprout height exceeded height of prefire stems, and sprouts were producing seeds. Fifteen years later, gray horsebrush production was significantly (p=0.05) higher on burned than on unburned plots, and highest yields tended to be associated with areas that burned more severely [5]. Results from a study of big sagebrush-Idaho fescue communities in Salmon National Forest, Idaho, suggest that "cool" burns may also enhance gray horsebrush [31]. Results from 1 postfire study in a big sagebrush-grass range on the Upper Snake River Plains, Idaho, are below. The table compares gray horsebrush annual herbage production (lb/acre, air-dry) on unburned and burned areas for selected years following a 1936 burn. Overall, it shows that higher yields of gray horsebrush were produced on burned plots than on unburned plots [18].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE:No entry FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:Treatment of declining gray horsebrush populations with fire is generally not recommended as it may result in the species becoming overwhelmingly dominant [8,42,45,64]. Repeated burning will likely produce thick stands of the shrub [5]. Therefore, consideration of resprouting and seedling establishment of gray horsebrush is recommended when planning prescribed fires, especially on sagebrush rangelands [8].
Related categories for SPECIES: Tetradymia canescens | Gray Horsebrush |
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