FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Quercus muehlenbergii | Chinkapin Oak 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Chinkapin oak often sprouts from the stump or root crown after fire
[23].  Reestablishment through seed may occur on favorable sites in good
years.  Rouse [55] reported that seedling establishment of oaks is often
favored on mineral seedbeds produced by fire.

Mean fire intervals in gallery forests of northeastern Kansas have been
estimated at approximately 11 to 20 years [2].  These fires most likely
originated in adjacent prairies which historically burned every 2 to 3
years.  Since settlement times, gallery forests have expanded into
prairie because of increased fire suppression [3] [See Successional
Status].  Litter in gallery forests presumably decomposes more rapidly,
and the areal extent of fire may have been limited by the lower fuel
accumulations typical of these sites [2].  Killingbeck [33] observed
that patches of chinkapin oak predominate on infertile,
phosphorus-deficient sites in gallery forests.  Intense, damaging fires
are unlikely to occur on these sites because biomass and litter
accumulations are low.  Increased cattle grazing may also have led to
reduced fuels and less destructive fires [10].  Oak woodlands are
currently being replaced by maple-basswood forests because of reductions
in fire frequencies [3].


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

Related categories for Species: Quercus muehlenbergii | Chinkapin Oak