FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Betula nigra | River Birch 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Information on the relationship between fire severity and damage to
river birch is lacking.  Seedlings and saplings of river birch are
probably killed or top-killed by most surface fires.  Severe fires will
injure or kill mature trees.  In southern Illinois, a barren on which
river birch occurred was subjected to four prescribed fires from 1969 to
1973, after which no fires of any kind occurred.  Large river birch
trees apparently survived these spring fires, but seedlings were killed [1].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Repeated fires will probably eliminate river birch from a stand.  In
Wisconsin, river birch occurred on a number of floodplain locations, but
did not occur in a neighboring low marsh that had been subjected to
repeated grass fires [39].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Prescribed fires are not recommended for the bottomland hardwoods in
which river birch occurs.  These forests are dependent on fire exclusion
for successful reproduction.  Fire is damaging to most mature hardwoods,
causing wounds that can reduce the vigor and economic value of the trees
[24,27].

Related categories for Species: Betula nigra | River Birch