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<br />Vegetative Recovery after Wildfire <br /> <br />mahogany, can sprout from the root collar (the point where the stem and root meet). The <br />root collar is rather shallow and may be destroyed in a slow moving fire that consumes the <br />duff layer. <br /> <br />Rhizomes (horizontal underground <br />stems - not roots) occur deeper in the <br />soil profile. This depth protects the <br />rhizome from lethal temperatures. <br />Gambel oak and chokecherry are <br />common species with rhizomes in this <br />state. Gambel oak often resprouts <br />readily after fire. Oak rhizomes are <br />often four to 20 inches deep in the soil <br />profile. The density of Gambel oak <br />often increases after fire. Many types of <br />willow also resprout quickly. <br /> <br /> <br />Forbs, which include many common Natural recovery offorb and grass community. <br />wildflowers, have similar root <br />structures that resprout after fire depending on fire severity and depth of the r~ot structure. <br />Wildflowers, such as Indian paintbrush, lupine, and columbine resprout from an <br />underground structure called the caudex. Some wildflowers form underground bulbs or <br />conTis develop and new sprouts. <br /> <br />The seeds of many shrubs and forbs can <br />persist in the soil for years after dispersal. <br />A fire can open an area to greater <br />sunlight and warmth stimulating <br />germination of some seeds. Hard seeds <br />with thick seed coats are ruptured by fire <br />allowing the seed to absorb moisture and <br />germinate, Raspberry, gooseberry, <br />currant, plum, and chokecherry seed are <br />stimulated in this way. <br />Many grass species are rhizomatous and <br />regenerate readily after fire. Buds and <br />grass meristems (growing points) are <br />protected by being deeper in the soil <br />profile. <br /> <br />References <br /> <br /> <br />eoIl <br />..- <br /> <br />Page 8 of9 <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (2001, _ <br />May). Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. Available: wwwJsJed.us/database/feis ,., <br />[June 22, 2001). <br /> <br />~bllrnad <br /> <br />I <br /> <br /> <br />Effects of subsurface heating on postfire <br />sprouting on rhizomatous shrub (adapted from <br />Wildland Fire in Ecosystems: Effects of Fire on <br />Flora, GTR RMRS-GTR-42-volume 2.) <br /> <br />Brown, J.K.; Smith, J.K. eds. 2000. Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on flora.' <br />http://www.ext.colostate.edulPUBSINATRES/06307.html <br /> <br />8/13102 <br />