FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Vaccinium arboreum | Tree Sparkleberry 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Tree sparkleberry can be girdled and killed by fire [36].  Following a
prescribed burn near Nacogdoches, Texas, mortality of important
understory species, including tree sparkleberry, ranged from 11 to 31
percent [40].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
The fire response of tree sparkleberry has not been well documented.
Average height was reduced by a winter fire near Nacogdoches, Texas, but
the average number of stems per plant increased [40].  Response was as
follows [40]:

                 winter burn - March 1974             control
                 1973         1975                    1973      1975

avg. ht. (cm)    243          214                     288       317
avg. # stems/
   plant         1.15         1.69                    1.07      1.00

Many ericaceous shrubs sprout from the root crown or rhizomes after
aboveground vegetation is destroyed by fire.  The postfire increase in
stems per plant suggests that sprouting may sometimes occur.  However,
sprouting in tree sparkleberry has not been discussed in the available
literature.

Reestablishment presumably occurs through seedling establishment where
plants are killed by fire.  Many birds and mammals transport seed from
adjacent unburned areas.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Wildlife management:  Prescribed fire can be an effective means of
managing tree sparkleberry thickets for wildlife habitat in some areas
[42].  Prescribed fire can promote livestock forage and deer browse [21]
and may have some potential for increasing fruit production [40].  Deer
utilization of tree sparkleberry before and after a prescribed fire in
Texas was as follows [21]:

            unburned                  burned
    1958     1959     1960       1958        1959    1960
                              (before fire)  (after fire)   
                        (percent utilization)

      6        17       11         4            57     18    

However, researchers caution that excessive burning for wildlife can
result in loss of overstory and midstory hardwoods [21].

Prescribed fire:  Managers frequently spray herbicides on southern pine
forests and allow 2 years for the release of native bunchgrasses [36].
Bunchgrass development provides a uniform fuel for subsequent prescribed
fires.  Backfires can then be used to kill "low quality" hardwoods such
as tree sparkleberry [36].  However, researchers note that blackjack
oak-hickory-tree sparkleberry associations commonly occur on poor sites
[36].  Limited growth potential on these sites may make prescribed
burning for hardwood control uneconomical [36].

Nutrient content:  Nutrient content of tree sparkleberry browse may be
altered by burning.  [See Food Value].

Related categories for Species: Vaccinium arboreum | Tree Sparkleberry