FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Chamaecyparis lawsoniana | Port-Orford-Cedar 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Relatively small Port-Orford-cedar trees are easily killed by fire.
Repeated fires can eliminate all the Port-Orford-cedar regeneration size
classes from mature forest understories [1].  This is probably why
Port-Orford-cedar is rare where fires occur frequently [2].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Mature Port-Orford-cedars are very fire resistant and often survive
fire.  Seed dispersed from surviving trees allows Port-Orford-cedar to
rapidly establish numerous seedlings.  Seedlings may maintain dominance
for a few years but are usually overgrown by faster growing conifers
within about 20 to 25 years [13].  Since Port-Orford-cedar is very shade
tolerant, trees established following a fire will persist in the
understory and eventually replace other conifers such as Douglas-fir if
there is a sufficient fire-free interval to allow trees to grow to a
fire-resistant size [1,13].  Some sampled stands have two or more
distinct size classes, each thought to have become established following
a fire [12,37].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Species: Chamaecyparis lawsoniana | Port-Orford-Cedar