FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Toxicodendron radicans | Poison-Ivy 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Poison-ivy is top-killed by fire [56].  Fruits, with their fatty
covering, are probably killed along with aerial stems.  Surviving
rhizomes and root crowns will sprout to establish stands [31].  Fire may
slow the development of surviving plants.  Leafing out was delayed 1
month on burned plots compared to unburned plots in oak-hickory forests
in Tennessee [31].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Poison-ivy vines may survive under unburned litter [31].  These vines
provided a large portion of sprouting after a fire, although the
majority of poison-ivy growth appeared to be from rhizomes protected in
the soil [31].  This sprouting may result in denser growths than were
present before burning [31,37].

Poison-ivy has variable responses to burning, influenced by season of
burning, community type, and subsequent environmental conditions.  It
significantly (p<0.05) increased on burned plots [31,55].  However,
Adams and others [2] rated poison-ivy as a decreaser after it was
eliminated from sites by both summer and late winter burning.  In
Ontario pine-mixed hardwoods, poison-ivy decreased in frequency and
biomass after late spring (May, June, or July) burning [42,105].
However, in longleaf pine-turkey oak (Pinus palustris-Quercus laevis)
forest, poison-ivy had greater abundance on areas burned in mid-winter
(January) compared to controls [7].  In oak savanna, poison-ivy
increased after fall burning [6].

In a plains cottonwood (Populus sargentii) community that sustained
different classes of fire damage, poison-ivy was most abundant (had the
highest frequency) in stands with upper crown damage [96].  However, in
a similar study in a loblolly pine stand, poison-ivy increased more
after surface fire than it did after crown fire [52].  The highest
poison-ivy frequency occurred with a 2-year-fire/2-year-rest rotation
[124].

In bur oak-pin oak community, poison-ivy had higher frequency (12.7
percent) in plots burned annually for 14 years than in controls (5
percent) [123].  Poison-ivy was most abundant 4 years after being
top-killed during fall and spring prescribed fires [56].  In Michigan,
poison-ivy had the greatest frequency in communities 38 and 51 years
after fire [101].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Climbing vines of poison-ivy form fuel ladders; fine fuels in ladders
may be consumed in flare-ups [31].  

The poison-ivy dermatitis-causing compound, urushiol, is not a volatile
oil; however, it can be carried by particles of soot when the plant is
burned [84,109,120].  Eyes especially should be protected [79].

The role of fire controlling poison-ivy has not been fully examined
[28].  In general, carbohydrate reserves remain high until flowering,
which precludes the use of spring fires as an effective control [28].
Prescribed fires and herbicide were tested for control of poison-ivy.
Significantly (p<0.05) more growing points were killed when glyphosate
was applied to burned plots than were killed in burned plots without
herbicide [31].

Related categories for Species: Toxicodendron radicans | Poison-Ivy