FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Ziziphus obtusifolia | Lotebush 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Lotebush is top-killed by most fires [46].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Lotebush is not easily killed by fire.  Neuenschwander and others [29]
found that they killed none of 50 marked plants with a prescribed fire,
even though all of the plants showed at least some damage and most were
top-killed.  Similar results occurred on a prescribed burn where 88
percent of the plants were top-killed, but only 5 percent did not sprout
[53].  Box and others [10,11] achieved from 87 to 100 percent lotebush
top-kill with prescribed fire, but only 10 to 40 percent mortality.  The
40 percent figure was the highest recorded fire mortality for lotebush
found in the literature reviewed for this write-up, and may be
artificially high, as it was recorded only for the first growing season
after the fire .

Lotebush sprouts readily after being top-killed by fire, either from the
stem tissue of the root crown, or directly from the roots if all stem
tissue is killed (root sprouting does not occur if any stem tissue is
intact) [19,42,46].  Neuenschwander and others [29] found that in a dry
year, lotebush may not sprout the first growing season following fire
top-kill, but with adequate moisture in the second or third growing
season it will then respond.

With adequate moisture, growth rates are very high for sprouts during
the first few years after fire top-kill, then growth slows to a gradual
increase (which can still be three times that of unburned plants) until
maximum heights are reached about 6 to 7 years after a fire [29].
Lotebush canopy height was reduced 32 percent 3 years after a prescribed
fire in a mixed grass-mesquite community [46].  Lotebush and other brush
recovered to prefire canopy diameters (probably due to an increased
number of stems per individual) by the end of one growing season after a
prescribed fire [22].

Lotebush regains its original position in a community much more slowly
than four-winged saltbush [54].  Flower and seed production occurs as
soon as 3 to 4 years after a fire [29].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Fire is not very effective in controlling brush in southern Texas unless
some form of pretreatment is practiced.  Fire alone produces uneven and
patchy burns, with large islands of brush left intact.  Any type of
mechanical control that crushes or knocks down large shrubs enhances the
effect of fire.  Lotebush in particular is not adversely affected by
fire and will increase in the number of stems per plant after
fire.  Removal of lotebush requires mechanical uprooting or treatment
with effective herbicides before burning [8,10,11,12].

Many fire prescriptions in mixed grass-shrub communities have a number
of objectives that can include an increase in herbage yields, an
increase in utilization of coarse grasses, an increase in the
availability of forage, to remove dead woody material, to improve
wildlife habitat and to control undesirable shrubs, cacti and cool
season grasses [55].

Northern bobwhite respond favorably to increased herbaceous growth
following fire, providing that some woody cover is maintained.  Burning
in western Texas can cause a critical loss of northern bobwhite cover
unless some of the large lotebush and honey mesquite plants are left
unburned [45].  Hot fires where all lotebush plants are top-killed will
reduce the amount of nesting sites available for at least 1 year after
the fire, and more likely for up to 6 to 7 years [39].  Cooler fires
that have patchy coverage will leave some larger, single-stemmed
lotebush individuals untouched and available as nesting cover [39].

Fire prescriptions that have wildlife habitat as a management goal
should preserve larger lotebush clones or individuals.  Lotebush that
sprouts after top-kill is not used for nest sites nor is it useful
loafing cover for bobwhite quail until the sixth or seventh growing
season after the fire.  The costs of dozing firelines around the larger
lotebush can be offset by the sale of hunting leases [39,40].

Control of lotebush after a prescribed fire can be aided by pasturing
Spanish goats on the burned site.  These goats prefer lotebush sprouts,
especially where there is easy access (i.e. old stems are burned away) [46].

Related categories for Species: Ziziphus obtusifolia | Lotebush