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Wildlife, Animals, and Plants
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Introductory
SPECIES: Fraxinus pennsylvanica | Green Ash
ABBREVIATION :
FRAPEN
SYNONYMS :
Fraxinus pennsylvanica var. lanceolata
Fraxinus lancolata
SCS PLANT CODE :
NO-ENTRY
COMMON NAMES :
green ash
red ash
Darlington ash
white ash
swamp ash
water ash
TAXONOMY :
The fully documented scientific name of green ash is Fraxinus
pennsylvanica Marshall. The taxonomy presented here follows that of the
Great Plains Flora Association [26] which does not recognize any
varieties or forms within North America. Review of the literature
indicates some disagreement as to the existence of the variety F.
pennsylvanica var. subintegerrima (Vohl) Fern. (F. p. var. lanceolata
(Borkh.) Sarg.), a glabrous form of the species more commonly
encountered in the northern Great Plains and western plantings. Fully
documented names of varieties and synonyms of green ash encountered in
the literature are presented below [15,26,30,44,53,56].
Fraxinus pennsylvanica var. campestris (Britt.) F.C. Gates-Gates
Fraxinus Pennsylvanica var. lanceolata (Borkh.) Sarg.-Budd & Best
Fraxinus pennsylvanica var. austinii Fern.-Boivin
Fraxinus pennsylvanica var. subintegerrima (Vahl) Fern.-Fernald
Fraxinus campestris Britt.
Fraxinus lanceolata Borkh.-Rydberg
Fraxinus viridis Mixhx.f.
LIFE FORM :
Tree
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
COMPILED BY AND DATE :
L. C. Rosario, August 1988
LAST REVISED BY AND DATE :
NO-ENTRY
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Fraxinus pennsylvanica | Green Ash
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Green ash is the most widely distributed of all the American ashes. Its
range extends from Cape Breton Island and Nova Scotia to southeastern
Alberta and Montana, and southward to central Texas and northern
Florida [52,57]. The disputed glabrous variety, Fraxinus pennsylvanica
var. subintegerrima (lanceolata) is found mainly in the northern Great
Plains region [30,53].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
FRES19 Aspen - birch
FRES28 Western hardwoods
STATES :
MT ND SD WY NB KS OK TX MN IA
MO AR LA WI IL KY TN MS AL GA
FL SC NC VA WV OH MI MD DE NJ
NY PA CT RI MA VT NH MA NB NS
PQ ON MB SK AB
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS :
ACAD APIS BADL BISO BITH BLRI
BUFF COLO COSW CUVA DEWA DETO
EFMO FODO GATE GWCA GWMP GRKO
GRSM HOBE INDU JELA MACA MORR
NATR NERI OZAR PIRO PIPE ROCR
SARA SCBL SHEN SHIL SLBE THRO
TICA VAFO VOYA WICR WICA
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
14 Great Plains
15 Black Hills Uplift
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K28 Alder - ash forest
K81 Oak savanna
K89 Blackbelt
K98 Northern floodplain forest
K99 Maple - basswood forest
K100 Oak - hickory forest
K101 Elm - ash forest
K102 Beech - maple forest
K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
K106 Northern hardwoods
K106 Northern hardwoods; seral stages
K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
K112 Southern mixed forest
K113 Southern floodplain forest
SAF COVER TYPES :
16 Aspen
26 Sugar maple - basswood
42 Bur oak
52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
62 Silver maple - American elm
63 Cottonwood
65 Pin oak - sweetgum
82 Loblolly pine - hardwood
87 Sweetgum yellow poplar
88 Willow oak - water oak - diamondleaf (laurel) oak
89 Live oak
91 Swamp chestnut oak - cherrybark oak
92 Sweetgum - willow oak
93 Sugarberry - American elm - green ash
94 Sycamore - sweetgum - American elm
95 Black willow
96 Overcup oak - water hickory
101 Baldcypress
102 Baldcypress - tupelo
103 Water tupelo - swamp tupelo
235 Cottonwood - willow
236 Bur oak
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Green ash has been used as a climax indicator in a number of forested
habitat typing systems in the central and western part of its range in
portions of Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The
understory dominants used as indicator species within the green ash
series are common chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) and western snowberry
(Symphoricarpos occidentalis).
Green ash also forms co-climax stands with American elm (Ulmus
americana) with common chokecherry as the understory dominant, and is a
dominant overstory component in various deciduous forest and woodland
plant association types, including: Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus
scopulorum); bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa); eastern hophornbean (Ostrya
virginiana); aspen (Populus tremuloides); and plains cottonwood (Populus
sargentii) in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana and Wyoming.
Published classification schemes listing green ash as a climax indicator
are presented below.
Location Authority
MT Hansen, Hoffman and Steinauer
1984 [28]
Johnston 1987 [32]
ND Girard 1985 [23]
Hansen, Hoffman and Steinauer
1984 [28]
Hoffman and Alexander 1987 [29]
WY Hansen, Hoffman and Steinauer
1984 [28]
VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Fraxinus pennsylvanica | Green Ash
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE :
Green ash wood, which is heavy, hard, strong and yellowish with wide,
white sapwood, has moderately high specific gravity and a low wood
moisture content which make it a valued species for solid wood products
as well as for pulp and paper requiring hardwood fibers [46]. Crating,
boxing, handle stock and rough lumber can be obtained from
merchantable-size trees [14]. Some plants exhibit poor form, such as
crooked growth and very open tops [53], but generally apical dominance
is strong enough so that vigorous, uninjured, open grown trees have a
single, straight stem until they are 15 feet (4.6m) or more in height
[57]. In Georgia, green ash, useful for pulpwood, lumber and veneer, is
probably the most valuable commercial species adapted to the wet flats
of Piedmont bottomlands. Because of its pioneer nature and ability to
grow rapidly in pure, even-age stands it is well-suited for plantation
management systems. Properly established and managed plantations and
natural stands should produce high yields of fiber and quality
solid-wood products [21].
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Green ash is the principle component of wooded draws in the northern
Great Plains region, providing critical habitat for many wildlife
species and protecting domestic livestock both in summer and in winter.
Domestic livestock are attracted to these green ash-dominated
communities in the summer for shade, water, late season green
vegetation, and to escape from insects; during the winter they use these
areas as thermal cover and for protection from wind. Wooded draws
provide sites that enhance accumulation of snow which is a valuable
source of water for stockponds [7].
Green ash woodlands are considered to be important habitats for a number
of wildlife species. They provide important year-round deer habitat for
both mule and whitetail deer, contributing both browse and shelter [25].
These areas constitute up to 50% of the critical habitat for deer
throughout much of the Great Plains [7]. Other mammal species commonly
found on native woodlands include: squirrels, coyotes, rabbits, racoons
and porcupines and several species of small mammals. Woodland
vegetation is essential to the breeding, nesting and fledging of a
number of avian species [23]. Green ash-dominated wooded draws provide
70% of sharptail grouse habitat, and nongame birds occupy the draws in
the summer [7]. A rich diversity of invertebrate species are also
present in the woodlands, and serve as an important food source for many
species [23].
PALATABILITY :
Generally green ash is of low palatability to all classes of livestock,
however, it is often overbrowsed by these animals in small woodlots or
around farmsteads. Deer will browse green ash, and tend to overbrowse
when other preferred species are not available [25,53]. Dittberner and
Olson [18] rate palatability of this species as poor for cattle, sheep,
and horses in North Dakota.
Palatability for wildlife has been rated as follows [18]:
CO MT ND
Mule deer ---- poor good
White-tailed deer ---- poor good
Antelope ---- ---- fair
Upland game birds ---- poor ----
Sm nongame birds fair poor ----
Sm mammals ---- poor ----
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
The nutritional value of green ash is relatively low for livestock, with
a fair energy value, and a poor protein value [18].
COVER VALUE :
Green ash is most valuable to livestock and wildlife in the extensive
prairie/plains regions where quality cover is often lacking. The degree
to which this species provides environmental protection during one or
more seasons for wildlife species is as follows [18]:
CO MT ND
Mule deer ---- fair good
White-tailed deer ---- good good
Antelope ---- poor ----
Upland game birds ---- good fair
Sm nongame birds good good fair
Sm mammals ---- fair ----
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Green ash has been used to plant spoil banks resulting from strip mine
operations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and the Central states with
reported high survival and growth rates of up to one foot (30.5cm) per
year [57]. In the Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma area, green ash planted on
strip mined areas gave 97% survival the first year and 96% survival the
second year on shale and clay with a pH of 7.5 [14]. In this same study,
green ash had overall the highest percent survival of five native
species planted, or 63%. In another study by Bjugstad [7], green ash
showed the highest survival of seven hardwood species reestablished on
bentonite and low-salt coal spoils in northeast Wyoming, about 44% at
the start of the third growing season.
Survival and growth of this species is good on a wide variety of sites
[14,34,51,57], but green ash does best, and is better developed on moist
sites [8,14,34]. Bjugstad [8] reports that restoration of green
ash/common chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) habitat types on coal mine
spoils is greatly increased by trickle irrigation over a two year
initiation period. On barren spoils, green ash should be planted in
equal proportions with black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) or other
hardwoods [8,14]. This species is tolerant of moderately heavy
competition from shrubs and herbs [14] and can be underplanted in black
locust stands if the ground cover is not too dense [34].
Green ash has also been used extensively in wind break plantings, rated
by Van Deusen and Cummingham [51] as the best medium- to fast-growing
windbreak species from the standpoint of its survival and adaptability.
Read [41] recommends green ash, with its moderate drought resistance,
for windbreak plantings on these sites in the central Great Plains:
1) River and creek lowlands (deep, moist, permeable soils).
2) Medium to deep upland soils (silty or clayey loams).
3) Medium to deep upland soils (sandy loams and loamy sands).
4) Very wet, poorly drained soils (saline or alkaline uplands and
lowlands).
In all cases green ash is a medium sized tree with a medium crown
density and root habit, and a moderate growth on all but very wet,
poorly drained soils, where growth is slow. Green ash reaches a maximum
height of 45 feet (14m) on the river and creek lowlands and only 20 feet
(6.2m) on the very wet soils.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service has selected and propogated from
seed collected from a farmstead windbreak in Wibaux County, Montana, the
cultivar 'Cardan'. This cultivar has been planted extensively by the
SCS in farmstead and field windbreaks in North Dakota, South Dakota, and
western Minnesota. "Cardan" is well suited to the northern Great
Plains, giving excellent survival and growth rates on a wide range of
soils and climatic conditions typical of the Plains [58].
Green ash is also rated as having moderate potential for erosion control
and for long term revegetation [18].
Samaras of green ash should be harvested in the fall when the color
fades from yellow to brown [11] or when the seed within is white, crisp,
firm, and fully elongated [53]. It has been suggested that moisture
content is a more important determiner of readiness for collection than
color of the samara. Harvest is recommended when the average moisture
content falls to 49% [17], or over a 3-week period when the average
moisture content falls below 100% [16]. Samaras may be picked by hand or
with pruners, shaken from the limbs of standing trees onto sheets spread
below, or swept up from the streets in urban areas [11]. Seeds should be
spread in shallow layers for complete drying; dewinging is not
necessary. Seeds may be stored in sealed containers for up to seven
years at 41 F (5C) with about 8% moisture without losing viability.
There are an average of 17,000 seeds/lb [53]. Care should be taken to
select seed or planting stock of the same geographical origin as the
planting site, as a large variation in drought and cold-tolerance is
encountered in this widely distributed species [37].
Green ash seeds may be sown in the fall without any stratification,
especially in the northern reaches of green ash's range, by planting
them as soon as collected, before October 15, and mulching overwinter
with burlap or straw. Spring planted seed requires pregermination
treatment. This can be a warm-cold stratification of 60 days at 32 to
41 F (0-5C) [11], or a 4-day soak in 100 ppm giberellic acid or 2 days in
1 to 10 ppm 6-benzyladenine followed by a 30-day stratification at 37 F
(3C). This last treatment will save 30 to 60 days of stratification
time and 21 days of germination time [48]. Tinus [48] also states that
germination of dewinged green ash stored seed is faster and greater than
germination of nondewinged stored seed. Another stratification
technique to improve regeneration if seedlings are needed rapidly is to
depericarp water soaked seed and partially remove the endosperm [36].
Germination is about 75% with stratified seed, which germinates in 20
days [53].
Stratified seeds should be sown in the spring, drilling them in rows 6
to 12 inches (14-30cm) apart, with 25 to 30 seeds per linear foot, or be
broadcast to a density of 10 to 15 seedlings per square foot. Normal
outplanting for seedstock is 1-0 or sometimes 2-0 [11].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
Green ash, a cultivated ornamental throughout its range, has often been
planted for shade and landscape beautification in urban parks,
recreation areas, and residential areas [11,51]. Its leaves turn golden
yellow in the fall [53]. Soil Conservation Service field plantings have
resulted in commercial production and extensive plantings of green ash
in the northern Great Plains for field shelterbelts and farmstead
windbreaks [35,51].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Green ash is highly susceptible to the effects of rubbing and trampling
by livestock [25], and unfenced windbreaks or shelterbelts may be
damaged by cattle. Heavy utilization of green ash draws by livestock
greatly reduces the occurence of mature green ash trees, and subsequent
recruitment of green ash from the herbaceous, shrub, and sapling strata
is considerably lower on heavily grazed sites when compared to the
lightly grazed sites [13]. Mean height of mature green ash is greater on
the ungrazed site as compared to the grazed site, and saplings decrease
in density with an increase in grazing use [25]. Generally, overgrazing
green ash wooded draws causes sparse, low vigor stands with lots of dead
material on the ground, compacts the soil, inhibits reproduction, and
damages mature trees by rubbing, trampling and browsing [43].
If a wooded draw occupies only a small proportion of a pasture it will
probably be overused because cattle concentrate in search of shade,
water, and green vegetation, regardless of stocking rate [43].
Continued heavy utilization of green ash draws by livestock may
eventually result in communities composed of a mixture of small-statured
shrubs with green ash assuming a declining role [13]. Many woody stands
in the upland draws have already disappeared from the High Plains
landscape, and many more are in a serious state of decline [10].
Because many wildlife species, including mammals, birds and
invertebrates, are dependent upon the woody species to complete their
life cycles, alteration or loss of the woodland habitats would have
severe consequences on wildlife populations.
In order to protect these limited and high value green ash communities
in the northern Great Plains area, Girard [23] offers these potential
solutions:
1) Interseeding of highly palatable grass species in unused areas of
the range will result in decreased use of wooded draws.
2) Construction of shelters at strategic location results in improved
cattle production and more effective grazing distribution than volunteer
and/or forced use of wooded areas.
3) Use of insecticide-impregnated ear tags for control of insects
prevents livestock from using the shade of wooded draws to avoid insect
attacks or from rubbing against trees in order to dislodge insects.
4) Fencing of woodlands to restrict livestock use, although this is a
costly undertaking, results in these benefits: provision of a
continually reproducing windbreak for cattle; grazing in winter and/or
early spring, or during emergencies; firewood; and browse for wildlife.
However, in decadent woodlands, fencing may have to be used in
combination with other rehabilitation techniques.
5) Placement of salt blocks and water away from woodlands helps to
improve livestock distribution.
Some potential improvement techniques which could be used either alone
or in combination to regenerate declining green ash communities are:
1) Burning to promote vigorous sprouting of shrubs and trees.
2) Selective cutting of mature trees to stimulate sprouting, taking
into consideration age of the trees, as the ability to sprout decreases
with age and diameter.
3) Underplanting trees and shrubs in partially cut stands with
protection from cattle grazing.
Any of these improvement techniques could and should be integrated with
the management suggestions offered above for the best response [10,23].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Fraxinus pennsylvanica | Green Ash
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Green ash is a native, deciduous tree with a large, straight trunk and
high branches. This dioecious tree grows up to 66 feet (20m) high with
diameters of 1 1/2 to 2 feet (46-61cm), although in the wooded draws of
the northern Great Plains it usually reaches about only 25 to 30 feet
(8-10m) in height [26,44,53,57]. The largest living green ash is in
Missouri, with a height of 106 feet (32m) and 4.4 feet (1.34m) in
diameter [53].
A flood tolerant tree, green ash has an extensive, moderately shallow
root system, which contributes to a high degree of windfirmness [53,57].
The bark is dark grey to brown with shallow furrows, and the wood is
heavy, hard, strong and yellowish with wide, white sapwood [44]. Apical
dominance is strong enough so that vigorous, uninjured, open-grown trees
have a single, straight stem until they are 15 ft (5m) or more tall. In
slow growing, shaded specimens, reassertion of apical dominance when the
terminal bud is removed is slow. Therefore, understory seedlings
frequently have poor stem form [57]. Leaves are opposite and
oddly-pinnate about 8 to 12 in (20-30cm) long with 5 to 9 (usually 7)
oblong-lanceolate or elliptic, serrate or entire leaflets [53].
The inconspicuous, unisexual flowers are borne over the entire outer
part of the live crown, usually beginning when trees are 3-4 in (8-10cm)
in diameter and 20 ft (6m) high [57]. Staminate flowers are dense
panicles which are green with reddish anthers; pistillate flowers are
greenish yellow in short panicles [44]. The fruit is an elongated,
winged, single-seeded samara borne in clusters [11], and large seed crops
are produced every year.
According to Wright [57], green ash is composed of three or more
ecotypes. The population from the arid northwestern part of green ash's
range is more drought resistant than that from the moister central Great
Plains, and as compared to the Coastal Plain ecotype (Virginia, North
and South Carolina), the Northern States ecotype (Maine to Minnesota)
grows more slowly, has greener petioles, is more winter hardy, and the
leaves are less subject to damage by fall frosts.
Several insects feed on green ash trees: oyster scale; carpenter worm;
two ash saw flies; and unspecified borers particularly affect shade
trees and windbreak plantings. Fungus, athracnose, rusts, and root rot
sometimes damage trees and wood. Rabbits, deer and cattle may damage
unfenced plantings [57].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Phanerophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Green ash regenerates both through sexual and vegetative reproduction
often regenerating profusely from either seed or vegetatively after
disturbance [38]. Large seed crops are produced each year, and the
winged samaras are wind-dispersed, most within a few hundred feet of the
parent tree. Some dispersal by water occurs, but the importance of
water as a long distance dispersal agent is not known [57]. Wind and
water dispersed seeds drop during the fall and winter months and
germinate the following spring on a variety of ground types including
moist litter as well as mineral soil, but rarely in dense vegetation
[3]. This species grows best in partial shade [38]. Plants will
reproduce from wind blown seeds along river banks [53].
This tree responds quickly to damage by sprouting when the top is
removed, especially when trees are in smaller diameter classes [3]. The
ability to sprout decreases with age and diameter of the parent tree
[25]. The plants will sprout readily from the root crown or from stumps
following damage [3,25,38,53,57], and it has been suggested that success
and propagation of this species in an island environment is more due to
its ability to sprout and resprout than to the number of successful
instances of seedling establishment [3]. Land managers can take
advantage of this reproductive strategy in northern Great Plains
declining green ash communities by using selective cutting to help
regenerate the woodlands through resprouting [25].
Green ash of sapling or pole size sprouts readily, resulting in clumps
of several stems, and cuttings made from young trees root easily under
greenhouse conditions. However no practical way to root cuttings from
older trees has been found. This species can also be bench or field
grafted [57].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Green ash, the most widely distributed of all the American ashes, grows
in a subhumid to humid climate with an average annual precipitation of
15 to 60 inches (38-155cm) and an average length frost free season from
120 to 280 days.
This flood tolerant species is almost completely confined to bottomland
sites, but grows well when planted on moist upland soils. It is most
commonly found on alluvial soils along rivers and brooks and less
frequently in swamps, and is common on land subject to flooding once or
twice a year, remaining healthy when flooded up to 40% of the time
during the growing season [57]. Tree species most commonly associated
with green ash are box elder (Acer negundo), red maple (Acer rubrum),
American elm (Ulmus americana), pecan (Carya illenoensis), sugarberry
(Celtis laevigata), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), American
sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), eastern cottonwood (Populus
deltoides), plains cottonwood (P. sargentii), quaking aspen (P.
tremuloides), black willow (Salix nigra), and willow oak (Quercus
phellos) [57].
In the western part of its range, mainly in the northern Great Plains,
where rainfall is insufficient to suppport upland tree growth, green ash
is commonly found in upland coulees and draws, broad valleys, and on
floodplains [9]. The tree canopy in these wooded draws is primarily
green ash, associated with American elm, boxelder, and Rocky Mountain
juniper (Juniperus scopulorum). Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)
dominates the sapling layer, and with snowberry (Symphoricarpos
occidentalis), makes up the shrub component.
Green ash occurs on a wide variety of soils although it survives best on
deep, permeable, well-drained loams [52], preferring these to river sand
[54]. This species has been planted on medium to coarse-textured upland
sands and loams with good moisture relations, and is tolerant of
moderately strong acid (pH 4.0) to moderately basic reacting soils [53].
The elevational ranges for green ash in several northern Great Plains
states are as follows [18,32]:
Colorado 3,500 to 5,700 feet (1,067-1,737m)
Montana 3,400 to 4,500 feet (1,036-1,372m)
Nebraska 2,600 to 4,500 feet (793-1,372m)
North Dakota 2,240 to 3,840 feet (683-1,170m)
South Dakota 3,000 to 4,200 feet (915-1,280m)
Wyoming 4,100 to 4,400 feet (1,250-1,341m)
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Green ash is rated as intolerant to moderately tolerant of shade. In
all but the northwestern extension of its range (northern Great Plains)
it establishes early in succession on alluvial soils either as a pioneer
or following eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides var. deltiodes),
quaking aspen (P. tremuloides), or willow (Salix spp.). Green ash is
less able to maintain a position in the crown canopy than its more
rapidly growing associates such as red maple (Acer rubrum) and American
elm (Ulmus americana); for this reason the proportion of ash usually
decreases with increasing age in mixed elm-ash-maple stands [57].
However the northern Great Plains is beyond the range of red maple, and
dutch elm disease has limited the expansion of American elm, therefore
it apears that green ash is the climax species in these northern Great
Plains green ash communities. Evidence also exists that it is replacing
eastern cottonwood as the tree canopy dominant in floodplain communities
where flooding no longer occurs [23].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Green ash, a dioecious tree, flowers before the leaf buds start to
enlarge in March to April in Florida, and in late April to early May in
Pennsylvania. Male flower buds require 1 to 2 weeks to pass from the
unenlarged winter condition to completion of pollen shedding which takes
about three days. Pollen is wind disseminated, most falling within 200
to 300 feet (60-90m) of the source. Female trees begin flower bud
enlargement a few days later, and the stigmas are receptive as soon as
they emerge from the bud for about a week. Within one month of
pollination samaras developing from fertilized flowers reach mature
size, although growth and ripening of the embryos is not completed until
late September or early October. Seeds begin to fall as soon as they
ripen until winter or early spring, and leaves fall at about the same
time as when the seeds ripen [57].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Fraxinus pennsylvanica | Green Ash
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Generalized fire effects information indicates that green ash is adapted
to disturbance by fire [3,24,43,53]. If the fire is hot enough to girdle
even mature trees, which have little protection from burning because of
their relatively thin bark, this species will sprout prolifically from
the root crown when the main stem is damaged [43]. To a lesser degree
postfire regeneration most likely involves the germination of on-site
canopy stored seed and/or off-site wind or water dispersed seed as well
[3,38,53].
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Tree with adventitious-bud root crown/soboliferous species root sucker
Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Fraxinus pennsylvanica | Green Ash
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Limited fire effects information concerning green ash in the northern
Great Plains portion of its range indicates that this species
demonstrates good tolerance to fire when burned in a dormant state
[25,53]. However, because of its thin bark, this species is subject to
girdling by fire, depending on the intensity of the burn [20]. This
species is known to sprout from the root crown following a burn if the
top portion of the plant is killed [3,25].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Green ash is tolerant of burning and is stimulated to sprout from the
root crown following damage from fire within the first year of the burn;
however its ability to resprout decreases with age and with diameter
[25]. Although it is thought that vegetative reproduction is the primary
mode of regeneration after fire due to green ash's ability to sprout
prolifically after damage, it is also expected that this tree, a
prolific seeder [53], will regenerate from seeds. Seedling establishment
may be either off-site or on-site, depending on the season and intensity
of the fire: a mature tree with seeds intact could probably only
survive a low intensity ground fire. Response and recovery time
according to fire intensity, severity, and season of the burn has not
been well documented for this species.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
In the northern Great Plains, fire has been suggested as a possible tool
for treatment of degenerating woody draws [23,43] due to overuse by
livestock (See Value and Use, Management Slot). Green ash communities
showed an increase in biomass, density, and cover when burned by a
wildfire in the Little Missouri grassland [25], and prescribed fire may
be useful for opening up shrub thickets or for triggering sprouting in
remnant trees and shrubs [23,43].
However, in the bottomland types of the North Central States where
production of wood for sawtimber, veneer, paper and fuel is the primary
management objective, it is recommended that fire not be used as a
management tool, as bottomland species are susceptible to fire damage.
Once larger trees are wounded, the entrance of heartwood decay producing
fungi is facilitated, eventually leading to substantial cull and volume
loss [38].
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Fraxinus pennsylvanica | Green Ash
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[25746]
Index
Related categories for Species: Fraxinus pennsylvanica
| Green Ash
|
 |
