FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Vaccinium oxycoccos | Bog Cranberry 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Fire usually top-kills bog cranberry.  Severe fires that remove the
underlying sphagnum layer generally kill underground reproductive
organs [52].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Bog cranberry sprouts from rhizomes following fire [13].  It generally
becomes more abundant with repeated fires [12].  In the Acadian Forest
Region of Maine, bog cranberry in tamarack (Larix laricina) bogs
increased after a prescribed fire.  Prior to burning, bog cranberry
stems were present at less than .09 per square foot (1/sq m).  Within 5
months following the fire, the number of bog cranberry stems had
increased via rhizome sprouting to 2.7 per square foot (29/sq m) [13].

After a prescribed fire in northern Wisconsin, increased fruit and seed
production and active succulent green growth was observed in bog
cranberry.  The plant flowered and fruited profusely within 1 to 3 years
following the fire [52].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Prescribed burning is the recommended management tool for the sites that
bog cranberry inhabits [22].  Fire reduces tall shrub cover, which
allows low shrub species to persist in bogs [46].  Burning produces a
retrogression from a bog forest dominated by trees to an open sphagnum
bog dominated by sedges and shrubs such as bog cranberry [52].  Without
fire, bog cranberry eventually is shaded out by taller shrub and tree
species.

Commercial cranberry growers often use fire to maintain bogs and
increase fruiting of bog cranberry [52].

Related categories for Species: Vaccinium oxycoccos | Bog Cranberry