FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Acer macrophyllum | Bigleaf Maple 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Bigleaf maple is well adapted to fire.  It sprouts prolifically from its
root crown following crown destruction by fire [30,50].  On moist upland
sites in the Cascades, sprouting allows bigleaf maple to become a part
of the immediate postfire community when the conifer overstory is
removed or killed.  Its abundance on upland sites following fire seems
to change little, and it remains scattered [31].  Seedling establishment
on recently burned areas has not been reported, although it could
potentially invade burned sites via seed transported from off-site by
wind or birds and small mammals.  Fowells [20] reported that "In the
Oregon coast range and on the western slopes of the Cascades, [bigleaf
maple] frequently invades logged and burned areas, particularly in moist
locations."

Bigleaf maple often grows along streams and rivers where soils are moist
[20].  Trees in these habitats may escape fire or be subjected to fires
of lower intensity than those in adjacent uplands [1].  Stands of
bigleaf maple and red alder bordering streams of the Tillamook Burn of
Oregon were untouched by a severe fire in 1933 and survived light fires
in 1939 and 1945 [6].


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   survivor species; on-site surviving root crown or caudex

Related categories for Species: Acer macrophyllum | Bigleaf Maple