• FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS
• POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY

FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS:

Utah juniper is usually killed by fire, especially when trees are small. However, Utah juniper habitat types rarely have sufficient fine fuels to produce severe or continuous fires. Fuel loads probably rarely exceed 1 to 3 tons per acre [34]. Phenolic compounds produced by the trees reduce ground cover and therefore further decrease fuel loading around the tree. Sites that are most likely to burn are those with small, scattered trees with sufficient herbaceous understory, or those with large, decadent trees able to sustain a crown fire under windy conditions [24]. Juniper stands are seldom dense enough to carry a crown fire from one tree to the next, so even if one tree is struck by lightning, a fire that burns throughout the stand may not result [35]. One difficulty in estimating fire histories in juniper habitat types is that junipers don't usually form fire scars. If a fire is severe enough to form a fire scar, it probably will kill the cambium [53].

Ten to 30 years is an estimated mean fire interval for Utah juniper in Arizona, and from 11 to 23 years in southwestern Idaho. Fires were probably more common on slightly more mesic sites than on xeric sites [24].

POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY:

Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
Initial off-site colonizer (off-site, initial community)

Related categories for SPECIES: Juniperus osteosperma | Utah Juniper