FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Tsuga mertensiana | Mountain Hemlock 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Mountain hemlock is easily killed by fire [7,73,65].  The most common
method of killing is root charring and crown scorching [65].  In a
krumholz community of the North Cascades, Washington, all but one
mountain hemlock were killed by fire [73].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Mountain hemlock is generally slow to regenerate after fire [25,49].
Most burned areas in the mountain hemlock zone on the Olympic Peninsula
do not have adequate stocking for commercial forests even 55 to 88 years
after wildfire [49].  Tree establishment in burned areas is higher
during normal to wet growing seasons [2].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Fire injury makes mountain hemlock very susceptible to insects and
disease [17,25].  Old-growth mountain hemlock stands 460 years or older
are very susceptible to stand-replacing fires [20].

In northern Idaho, burning slash produced better stocking of mountain
hemlock natural regeneration compared to leaving slash untreated.
However, manual scarification generally produced better stocking than
did burning.  In contrast, slash burning in Oregon increased the time it
took mountain hemlock to reach 60 percent stocking [24].

Related categories for Species: Tsuga mertensiana | Mountain Hemlock