AllRefer - Species: Eastern Cottonwood | Populus deltoides: FIRE ECOLOGY


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FIRE ECOLOGY

SPECIES: Populus deltoides | Eastern Cottonwood

FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY

FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS:

Fire adaptations: Eastern cottonwood is a weak sprouter, and fire generally kills it [3,22,86,87,132,145,158]. It may sprout from the roots, root crown, or bole after fire [47,95,152,183], but sprouts are few and usually die. In a survey of postfire response of cottonwoods (Populus spp.) in Alberta, Gom and Rood [86] reported a "very poor" sprouting response for eastern cottonwood: few sprouts were produced, and most of those sprouts died. In their own study, conducted 5 months after "high-intensity" April wildfires on 2 Oldman River sites near Lethbridge, Alberta, 20% of damaged eastern cottonwood trunks produced sprouts, while 80% of damaged cottonwoods in the taxonomic section Tacamahaca produced sprouts. Five years after fire, only 10% of eastern cottonwood trunks damaged by fire still supported live sprouts.

Fire regimes: In the Northern Great Plains, historic fire frequency was influenced by topography. Where plains cottonwoods occur along rivers, the fire frequency is estimated between 20 to 30 years [189]. These riparian areas burned less frequently than the surrounding uplands; fires skip over or only burn a portion [184]. Fires most likely occurred late in the growing season when the understory vegetation was cured enough to support a fire. In the mesic portions of the Northern Great Plains where eastern cottonwood occurs, the average fire return interval is 1 to 5 years [189].

In the southern United States, "serious" fire seasons occur every 5 to 8 years. The fire season is usually in the fall, except in years with a dry, early spring [171].

Fire regimes for plant communities and ecosystems in which eastern, plains, and Rio Grande cottonwood occur are summarized below. For further information regarding fire regimes and fire ecology of these communities and ecosystems, see the 'Fire Ecology and Adaptations' section of the FEIS species summary for the plant community or ecosystem dominants listed below.

Community or Ecosystem	Dominant Species	Fire Return Interval Range (years)
silver maple-American elm	Acer saccharinum-Ulmus americana	< 35 to 200 [218]
bluestem prairie	Andropogon gerardii var. gerardii-Schizachyrium scoparium	< 10 [135,164]
Nebraska sandhills prairie	Andropogon gerardii var. paucipilus-Schizachyrium scoparium	< 10
sagebrush steppe	Artemisia tridentata/Pseudoroegneria spicata	20-70 [164]
Wyoming big sagebrush	Artemisia tridentata var. wyomingensis	10-70 (40**) [215,233]
plains grasslands	Bouteloua spp.	< 35
blue grama-buffalo grass	Bouteloua gracilis-Buchloe dactyloides	< 35
cheatgrass	Bromus tectorum	< 10 [164]
sugarberry-America elm-green ash	Celtis laevigata-Ulmus americana-Fraxinus pennsylvanica	< 35 to 200 [218]
northern cordgrass prairie	Distichlis spicata-Spartina spp.	1-3 [164]
beech-sugar maple	Fagus spp.-Acer saccharum	> 1000
black ash	Fraxinus nigra	< 35 to 200 [218]
Rocky Mountain juniper	Juniperus scopulorum	< 35
wheatgrass plains grasslands	Pascopyrum smithii	< 35
pinyon-juniper	Pinus-Juniperus spp.	< 35 [164]
longleaf-slash pine	Pinus palustris-P. elliottii	1-4 [159,218]
loblolly-shortleaf pine	Pinus taeda-P. echinata	10 to < 35
sycamore-sweetgum-American elm	Platanus occidentalis-Liquidambar styraciflua-Ulmus americana	< 35 to 200 [218]
eastern cottonwood	Populus deltoides	5 to 200 [164,171,189]
mesquite	Prosopis glandulosa	< 35 to < 100
mesquite-buffalo grass	Prosopis glandulosa-Buchloe dactyloides	< 35
Texas savanna	Prosopis glandulosa var. glandulosa	< 10 [164]
mountain grasslands	Pseudoroegneria spicata	3-40 (10**) [5,6]
oak-hickory	Quercus-Carya spp.	< 35[218]
oak-juniper woodland (Southwest)	Quercus-Juniperus spp.	< 35 to < 200 [164]
white oak-black oak-northern red oak	Quercus alba-Q. velutina-Q. rubra	< 35
bur oak	Quercus macrocarpa	< 10
oak savanna	Quercus macrocarpa/Andropogon gerardii-Schizachyrium scoparium	2-14 [164,218]
chestnut oak	Q. prinus	3-8
northern red oak	Quercus rubra	10 to < 35
black oak	Quercus velutina	< 35 [218]
elm-ash-cottonwood	Ulmus-Fraxinus-Populus spp.	< 35 to 200 [52,218]

*fire return interval varies widely; trends in variation are noted in the species summary
**mean

POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY [201]:

Tree with adventitious bud/root crown/soboliferous species root sucker
Initial off-site colonizer (off-site, initial community)

Related categories for SPECIES: Populus deltoides | Eastern Cottonwood


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Content on this web site is provided for informational purposes only. We accept no responsibility for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by any person resulting from information published on this site. We encourage you to verify any critical information with the relevant authorities. Information Courtesy: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Fire Effects Information System