Differential relative bark thickness and aboveground growth discriminates fire resistance among hardwood sprouts in the southern Cascades, California

Autor: J. Morgan Varner, Kathryn R. Kidd
Rok vydání: 2018
Předmět:
Zdroj: Trees. 33:267-277
ISSN: 1432-2285
0931-1890
DOI: 10.1007/s00468-018-1775-z
Popis: Bark thickness relative to stem diameter and radial stemwood and height growth patterns provided a more accurate discrimination of fire resistance than absolute bark thickness alone in juvenile stems. Thick bark provides thermal protection to cambial tissues and adventitious buds during fires, and thus, is a functional trait associated with more fire-resistant species and species persisting in fire-prone environments. However, bark thickness alone may not provide the best indicator of fire resistance due to differences among species-dependent growth, reproductive, and survival strategies. We measured bark thickness relative to radial stemwood and height growth among five juvenile co-occurring hardwood species following the Chips Fire (2012) in the southern Cascades, California. We found canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis) and Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana), the most fire-resistant, did not have the greatest bark thickness (0.7–0.4 mm; 0.8–0.3 mm), but rather had significantly greater relative (to stem diameter) bark thickness (8–18%) at all heights along the stem (p Q. garryana > Q. kelloggii > Pacific dogwood, Cornus nuttallii > A. macrophyllum). Our findings highlight the importance of considering bark thickness relative to stem diameter and aboveground growth patterns in assessing species fire resistance.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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