FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Quercus stellata | Post Oak 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
Post oak is moderately resistant to fire [5].  It is less tolerant than
blackjack oak, about as tolerant as black oak [5,21], and slightly more
tolerant than southern red oak [3].  The basal bark on mature trees is
medium thick, and stands of post oak are moderately open [5].  Smaller
trees are easily killed by fire, but sprout vigorously from the root
collar [55].

If fire is frequent in pine-oak-hickory associations, post oak is an
important constituent because fire provides an opportunity for invasion
by this more fire-resistant oak.  If fire is infrequent or absent, post
oak also is absent [28].

In xeric sandhill communities of post oak, blackjack oak, and bluejack
oak, grass and other fuels are rare and fires are only occasional.  When
fires do reach these communities, some mature trees may be killed, but
they sprout and the community is maintained [54].

In a study investigating the temperature of a surface fire as it moved
from the surrounding grasslands to the area beneath a single post oak,
the temperature increased sharply from the canopy edge to the midcanopy
position because the increase in fuel load was not accompanied by a
concomitant increase in fuel moisture percentage.  The temperature then
decreased from the midcanopy to the base of the tree, despite continued
increase in fuel load and a slight decrease in fuel moisture.  This
decline in temperature was presumably caused by the bole of the tree
which stopped the leading edge of the fire [16].

Under a normal fire regime, a savanna is maintained because after a hot
surface fire grass grows back faster than the woody sprouts.  In the
absence of fire, the woody canopy spreads and the grass dies back.  If
fire returns, post oaks are likely to survive because the reduction in
grass fuel results in a much cooler fire.  In a fire in central
Oklahoma, all savanna litter burned whereas only 45 percent of the
litter in the adjacent forest burned [24].


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Tree with adventitious-bud root crown/root sucker

Related categories for Species: Quercus stellata | Post Oak