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You are here >1Up Info > Wildlife, Animals, and Plants > Plant Species > Shrub > Species: Ziziphus obtusifolia | Lotebush
 

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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

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Content on this web site is provided for informational purposes only. We accept no responsibility for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by any person resulting from information published on this site. We encourage you to verify any critical information with the relevant authorities.

Information Courtesy: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Fire Effects Information System

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