Effects of Fire on Plants

The primary effect of fire on plants is death or damage to living cells. Plant cell death, regardless of species, occurs at 147° F (60° C). At somewhat lower temperatures, more time is required to kill plant tissues. Because forest ecosystems have been subject to forest fires for millennia, many plant species have evolved fire-adapted traits. Plant adaptations to fire have taken many forms. Some adaptations confer a degree of protection from, or survival through, fires, such as thick insulating bark and the ability to sprout from below-ground buds. Other adaptations are actually fire-dependent traits; species with these traits may actually require fire for their continued existence. Examples of fire-dependent traits are serotinous cones, wax-sealed cones that will only open after exposed to the high temperatures typical of intense fires. Other species have seeds that require an exposed, litter-free soil surface for germination.

Adaptations to fire vary considerably among plant species. In the following sections, the effects of fire on various species are discussed in the context of their degree of adaptation to fire. The last section discusses the effects of fire on entire plant communities— how species differences in fire-adapted traits alter species composition and successional stages after fires.

• Effects of Fire on Pines
• Effects of Fire on Oaks
• Effect of Fire on Hardwoods other than Oaks
• Effects of Fire on Succession