FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Carya ovata | Shagbark Hickory 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Periodic fires tend to favor oak over over the less fire-resistant
hickory.  The slow-growing, thin-barked shagbark hickory is reduced by
short fire intervals [33].  Frequent burning at prairie margins reduces
or eliminates shagbark hickory seedlings [33].

Fire suppression in parts of the Northeast has reduced fire frequency
and converted oak-hickory forests to more mesophytic stands [60].
However, in an oak-hickory forest in Indiana, fire suppression since
1917 has contributed to the recruitment of shagbark hickory, sugar
maple, white ash (Fraxinus americana), and American elm (Ulmus
americana) [45].  Increases in tree density in oak-hickory forests in
Michigan have also been attributed to fire suppression [10].  In the
Great Smoky Mountains, fire suppression since 1940 has allowed hickories
to reach fire-resistant size [28].

Shagbark hickory usually sprouts from the root crown or stembase after
abovegrund foliage is killed by fire.  Seedling establishement may also
occur.


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   survivor species; on-site surviving root crown or caudex
   off-site colonizer; seed carried by animals or water; postfire yr 1&2

Related categories for Species: Carya ovata | Shagbark Hickory