FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Gleditsia triacanthos | Honey-Locust 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Honey-locust is easily injured by fire due to its thin bark [8,39].  

In south-central Iowa, grassland dominated by Kentucky bluegrass (Poa
pratense) that was undergoing invasion by coralberry (Symphoricarpos
orbiculatus), honey-locust, and elms was prescribed burned with a series
of fires to observe the effect of fire season on brush control.
Prescribed fires were conducted in February, April, June, and September
in order to include all stages of plant phenology.  Some large
honey-locust trees suffered bark damage and subsequent insect injury.
Many honey-locust trees under 10 feet (3 m) in height were top-killed
and sprouted the following year [20].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Honey-locust sprouts after top-kill by fire [39].

In the south-central Iowa study, there was an increase in the number of
honey-locust stems in the first season following the April prescribed
fire, but the number of honey-locust stems declined to prefire levels by
the second postfire year [20].

In Kansas, a bur oak-dominated gallery forest was prescribed burned in
1983.  There was no apparent fire-caused mortality to the overstory.
The reproduction layer was dominated by elm seedlings, both before and
after the fire.  Although honey-locust seedling mortality was not
reported directly, 100 honey-locust seedlings were present before the
fire, and 50 were recorded in each of the 2 years following the fire [2].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 

Related categories for Species: Gleditsia triacanthos | Honey-Locust