FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Abies fraseri | Fraser Fir 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Fraser fir is probably easily killed by fire [9].  No specific
information on the intensity of fire needed to kill Fraser fir is
available.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
In 1955, an escaped campfire burned approximately one acre of red
spruce-Fraser fir forest in the Plott Balsam Mountains of western North
Carolina.  The community was sampled in the early 1980's and was found
to have a tree layer similar in composition to that of postharvest,
second-growth spruce-fir stands that have been recovering for 30 to 50
years.  Density and basal area of trees were lower than in the
postharvest communities.  Fraser fir was of greater importance than red
spruce.  Pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica) was of greater importance in
the postfire community than expected, contributing to a reduced amount
of reproduction.  The reproduction layer was dominated by Fraser fir and
yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis), indicating that the site had not
yet fully recovered.  Other plant species were found to differ from
those that typically occur in logged or logged and burned red
spruce-Fraser fir forests.  Return to a closed-canopy Fraser fir-red
spruce-yellow birch forest is estimated to require many more decades.
The authors speculated that severe fires on steep rocky sites followed
by poor regeneration may be instrumental in the formation of shrubby
heath balds [26].

The most common, immediate postfire invaders in red spruce-Fraser fir
forests are pin cherry, American mountain-ash, and yellow birch.
Hobblebush and smooth blackberry can form very dense patches after fire
disturbance.  In a red spruce-Fraser fir postfire community in the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park, yellow birch and pin cherry were still
dominant after 30 years.  Fraser fir and red spruce were slow to
establish, and were represented by a few scattered 5- to 10-foot tall
(1.5-3 m) individuals [7].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Species: Abies fraseri | Fraser Fir