FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Vaccinium angustifolium | Low Sweet Blueberry 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Low sweet blueberry is well adapted to fire [29,144].  It generally
sprouts from the rhizomes or root crown after aboveground vegetation is
removed or damaged by fire.  Some seed may be transported on-site by
birds and mammals, but seedling establishment is generally limited to
favorable sites in good years and appears to play a minimal role in
postfire reestablishment.  Fire removes decadent aboveground vegetation
and promotes vigorous growth [29].  In parts of the Maritimes and the
northeastern United States, peatlands, lakes, and rocky outcrops serve
as natural fire breaks [59].  Fires in these areas are frequently
patchy, creating forest openings into which low sweet blueberry can
rapidly expand.  Plants within these openings receive sufficient light
for good vigor and fruit production.

Fire frequencies vary across its wide range, but low sweet blueberry
appears well adapted to survive in many fire regimes.  In Acadian
forests, fire frequencies range from 60 to 1,000 years [55].  In parts
of southeastern Labrador, fire occurs an average of once every 500 years
[59], and in parts of New Brunswick, an average of once every 370 years
[55].  In drier inland areas, fire-free intervals are much shorter.
Fire is important in maintaining jack pine communities in which low
sweet blueberry occurs as an understory dominant [59].  In jack pine
communities of Minnesota, fire frequency has been estimated at 100 years
[172].  Fire frequencies in Wisconsin pine barrens have been estimated
at 20 to 40 years [163].  Occasional fires maintain the open character
of these communities and allow for the continued prominence of low sweet
blueberry.


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Small shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
   Rhizomatous shrub, rhizome in soil

Related categories for Species: Vaccinium angustifolium | Low Sweet Blueberry