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<br />Vegetative Recovery after Wildfire <br /> <br />Lodgepole pine forests are very adapted to a natural fire <br />regime. Regeneration of new lodgepole seedlings can be <br />rapid (as little as two to three years). Lodgepole bark is <br />thin in comparison to that of ponderosa pine. <br />Temperatures lethal to the cambium are common. <br /> <br />~"-"< <br /> <br />:/ <br /> <br />A unique characteristic of lodgepole pine is its serotinous <br />cones. The cone scales can remain closed for several years <br />because of a resin coating. During an intense fire this resin <br />melts away allowing the cone scales to open, thus <br />releasing the seed. After a fire, a massive number of seeds <br />are released, An intense fire also exposes mineral soil to <br />provide a good seed bed. <br /> <br /> <br />Bare mineral soil exposed after a fire. <br /> <br />Spruce <br />-Fir <br /> <br />rage 0 or 'cI <br /> <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />Lodgepole pine regeneration <br />13 years after a fire. <br /> <br /> <br />Some cones of lodgepole pine <br />are serotinous, remaining <br />closed until intense heat from' <br />a fire forces them open. <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />Stands of spruce and true fir occupy the highest elevations of Colorado's mountains; <br />moisture and temperature conditions here are often less favorable for development of an <br />intense fire. Catastrophic fires are less frequent in this zone; however, when fires do <br />occur, they can be intense. <br /> <br />Colorado blue spruce can be a component in lower forest types. Its thin bark and shallow <br />roots make it very susceptible to fire damage. Branches often grow low to the ground, <br />which allows the fire to climb into the crown and destroy the tree. <br /> <br />Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir <br />forests are common in higher elevations <br />of the state. Both trees share <br />characteristics making them highly <br />susceptible to fire mortality. The bark is <br />thin and ignites easily, the roots are <br />shallow and the branches grow near the <br />ground. <br /> <br />http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/NATRES/06307.html <br /> <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />8/1 3/02 <br />