FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Picea pungens | Blue Spruce 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Blue spruce is easily killed by fire [67,126].  It has thin bark and
shallow roots which make it susceptible to hot surface fires [14].  Blue
spruce is slow to self-prune lower branches; therefore, surface fires
can crown [19].  Blue spruce foliage has moderately volatile oils [109].
Crowns are dense and highly flammable [106,109].  However, surviving
blue spruce remain windfirm in stands opened by fire [14].

In riparian areas where blue spruce occurs, intervals between fires are
about 350 to 400 years.  Severe fires occur infrequently, and succession
back to the original community is often relatively rapid (15 to 35
years).  Depending on the site, blue spruce may be the dominant seral
tree [19].

Successive fires may prevent blue spruce from dominance because it is
fire intolerant.  Historical fire frequency in mixed-conifer forests was
about 22 years, based on fire-scarred trees in the White Mountains of
Arizona [27].  Fire suppression during the past 100 years has made the
mixed-conifer forest in which blue spruce occurs more susceptible to
fire; however, blue spruce may be dominant in some areas because of the
longer fire-free intervals.


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Tree without adventitious-bud root crown
   Secondary colonizer - off-site seed

Related categories for Species: Picea pungens | Blue Spruce