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Wildlife, Animals, and Plants |
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FIRE EFFECTS
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT:Limber pine is often killed by fire because of its relatively thin bark. Keeley and Zedler [53] argue that the lack of evolution of thick, fire-resistant bark in this species is a result of very long and unpredictable fire return intervals in the unproductive sites where it occurs. The degree of stem scorch usually determines the extent of fire injury to trees. Young trees are usually killed by any fire that scorches their stems. Mature trees with thicker bark can survive [29]. The vulnerability of this species to fire is reduced by the open stand structure, sparse fuels, and sparse undergrowth of limber pine communities [85,101].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT:No entry
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE:Regeneration of limber pine end Engelmann spruce was assessed in a high-altitude area disturbed by fire in 1905. The south-facing sites were on Niwot Ridge in Colorado's Roosevelt National Forest. The uppermost elevation of the burn reached slightly below the tree limit at about 11,000 feet (3,355 m). Although limber pine regeneration at the uppermost elevation is less than at lower elevations, limber pine colonization at all elevations began shortly after the fire. The author found no evidence that treeline changed following the fire [98]. Postfire regeneration of limber pine is a consequence of seed dispersal and caching by Clark's nutcrackers [53,66].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE:In 1976 spring prescribed burning was conducted in open-canopy limber pine stands in the Little Belt Mountains of central Montana at about 5,500 feet (1,675 m) [55]. Further general site descriptions appear in Keown 1982 [56]. Air temperatures ranged from 55 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit (13-18 oC). Relative humidity was 20% to 40%, and winds were calm to 25 miles per hour (40 km/h). Fuel moisture was 7%. The management objective was to improve understory browse and forage. Limber pine mortality at postfire year 1 was 20% in grassy stands and as high as 80% in shrubby stands [55].
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:Fischer and Clayton [29] suggest that limber pine growing in open stands can be maintained by periodic fires that reduce the undergrowth. Where limber pine and Douglas-fir codominate, fire can be a thinning agent that slightly favors limber pine over Douglas-fir in the younger age classes.
Related categories for SPECIES: Pinus flexilis | Limber Pine |
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