FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Cercidium floridum | Blue Paloverde 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Blue paloverde with its thin photosynthetic bark is probably top-killed
by fire.  Surviving rootstocks may sprout if the response of blue
paloverde is similar to yellow paloverde [32].  If plants are heat
damaged, they may die several months after burning [14].  Seeds are
probably killed by fire unless protected by insulating layers of soil.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
In desert plant communities where blue paloverde occurs, 20 years may be
necessary for plant densities to recover to prefire levels [14,32,51].

Four years after a February 1964 fire in a southeastern California
desert scrub community, soils beneath burned and unburned woody plants
were surveyed.  Soil beneath burned blue paloverde had a strongly
hydrophobic layer overlain by a slightly hydrophobic layer.  Burned soil
had a slightly higher degree of water repellancy than unburned soil.
This water-repellent burned soil causes a reduction of available water
moisture and inhibits germination of species such as annuals beneath
blue paloverde [1].  This may protect blue paloverde from some fires.
Native annual plants probably did not create the same large fuel load
that introduced annual species currently provide [32].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
It is difficult to control shrubs and trees with fire on arid habitats
due to lack of fuel.  Two consecutive wet winters are probably necessary
to develop adequate fuel to sustain a fire in the desert scrub [37].
Prescribed fires once every 10 years would keep blue paloverde in check [23].

Depending upon the season of burning, soil nutrients may be quickly
translocated following fire on the desert soils where blue paloverde
occurs.  Available nitrogen in the soil drops below prefire levels for
several years due to removal of nitrogen-containing ash by run-off[75].

Dry matter levels are useful for predicting flammability of fuels.  Near
Tucson, Arizona, aboveground biomass of blue paloverde was 80.3 percent
dry matter [4].

Related categories for Species: Cercidium floridum | Blue Paloverde