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Response of woody species to crown fires in oak-juniper woodlands (Texas)


Table of Contents


Common names of plant species are used throughout this in summary. For a complete list of the common and scientific names of plant species discussed in this summary and for links to species density graphs and FEIS reviews, see the Appendix.

MANAGEMENT PROJECT SUMMARY CITATION:
Reemts, Charlotte. 2012. Management Project Summary: Response of woody species to crown fires in oak-juniper woodlands (Texas). In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/management_project_summaries/Reemts12/all.html [].

Sources: Unless otherwise indicated, the information in this Management Project Summary comes from previously unpublished data and the following paper:

Reemts, Charlotte M.; Hansen, Laura L. 2008. Slow recolonization of burned oak-juniper woodlands by Ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei): ten years of succession after crown fire. Forest Ecology and Management. 255(3-4): 1057-1066 [4].

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Objectives: We initiated this study to examine the response of oak-juniper woodlands to wildfire. Mature oak-juniper woodlands are important habitat for the federally endangered golden-cheeked warbler, while early-successional oak shrublands are nesting habitat for the federally endangered black-capped vireo. Managers knew little about the succession of woodlands after fire and were concerned about balancing the habitat needs of the 2 bird species.

Project location: Fort Hood Military Reservation, Fort Hood, Texas. Bell and Coryell counties. 31.27 latitude, -97.66 longitude, radius 10 km.
                        Figure 1. Location of the wildfires.

Site description and condition:
The burned area is in somewhat dissected terrain and includes lowlands, slopes (all aspects), and mesa tops. Elevation ranges from 235 to 300 meters above sea level. Climate is humid subtropical. Average high temperature in August is 36ºC; average high temperature in January is 14ºC.  Average annual precipitation is 838 mm, with two rainy seasons (May-June and October).

Fire effects were studied on three soil types (a detailed description of the study design and methods can be found Reemts and Hansen [4]. Evant soils are found on rolling hills, with slopes generally less than 10 degrees. These are the deepest soils studied, with depths from 36 to 51 cm. Eckrant soils are shallow (10 to 51 cm deep, but usually less than 30 cm) and found on flat, rocky limestone mesa tops. Real soils are found on slopes and slope shoulders, usually downslope from Eckrant soils. Slopes can be as steep as 45 degrees but are usually 10-20 degrees. Soil depths range from 20 to 48 cm (usually less than 30 cm).

The study area was wooded before the fires and was essentially unmanaged. Military training is confined to large grassy openings in the woodlands and to roads within the woodlands. The area is grazed, but the natural understory of the woodlands is very sparse and cattle generally only use the woodlands for cover.

The February 1996 wildfire was preceded by 3 years of approximately average rainfall (800 mm/yr; Figure 1). Rainfall following the fire was average to above average. The April 2009 wildfire occurred in a year of above-average rainfall, but was preceded and followed by droughts.

Figure 2. Total annual precipitation from 1990 to 2011 for the study area. The wildfires are marked with red dashed lines.

Treatment descriptions:
After the first wildfire, transects were randomly located in moderately to severely burned areas. These transects were sampled every summer from 1996 to 2002, and again in 2005 and 2010. The second wildfire re-burned some of these transects; these twice-burned transects were sampled each summer from 2009 to 2011. In this report, the first summer after each fire is identified as “postfire year 0”; thus, transects were measured in postfire years 0-6, 9, and 14 after the 1st fire and in postfire years 0-2 after the 2nd fire. Control (unburned) transects were selected in areas adjacent to the wildfires on similar soils, slopes, and aspects. Unburned transects were sampled in 2001, 2005, and 2010. The table below may be helpful for relating calendar years to postfire years.

Table 1. Fire years.
Year
Postfire year
After 1st fire After 2nd fire
1996 0  
1997 1  
1998 2  
1999 3  
2000 4  
2001 5  
2002 6  
2005 9  
2009 13 0
2010 14 1
2011 15 2

PRETEATMENT PLANT COMMUNITY AND FUELS:
Plant community:
Prefire communities varied by soil type. None of these woodlands had been burned since the creation of Fort Hood in the 1940s, and most of them are visible on aerial imagery taken in 1937. Little is known about their fire history before that time.

On Evant soils, the community was a post oak-Ashe juniper woodland. Blackjack oak is present but uncommon. The shrub layer is diverse and includes Texas ash, eastern poison-ivy, saw greenbrier, gum bumelia, stretchberry, and possumhaw. Canopy cover was generally above 50% but varied greatly. The understory beneath the trees is generally sparse (~5%); cedar-sedge (Carex planostachys) is the most common species. In canopy openings, additional grass species include threeawns, dropseeds, sideoats grama, and Texas wintergrass. Historically, these communities were likely post oak savannas that have since been invaded by Ashe juniper to form woodlands.

Eckrant soils are dominated by bastard oak-Ashe juniper woodlands or shrublands. Other common canopy species include Texas ash, Texas live oak, and Buckley's oak. The shrub layer includes mescal bean, eastern poison-ivy, stretchberry, Texas redbud, saw greenbrier, evergreen sumac, sweet mountain grape, possumhaw, Texas persimmon, and gum bumelia. Canopy cover was generally above 50%, with bare patches around bedrock outcrops. Understory cover is sparse (~5%) and confined largely to openings in the canopy. Common species include cedar-sedge, composite dropseed, and rosette grasses. Historically, these soils supported a mix of bastard oak shrublands and oak-juniper woodlands, depending on the local fire history and soil depth.

Community composition on the Real soils is somewhat more variable. On drier slopes, Buckley's oak and Ashe juniper codominate; Texas ash is also common. On mesic slopes, Ashe juniper becomes less dominant, and the deciduous component becomes more diverse. Additional species include chinquapin oak, hackberries, and walnuts. The shrub layer includes eastern poison-ivy, sweet mountain grape, Texas redbud, saw greenbrier, Carolina buckthorn, mescal bean, Spanish grape, dewberry, Texas persimmon, and possumhaw. Canopy cover is generally above 75% with openings around bedrock outcrops. Understory cover is sparse (~5%) and includes cedar-sedge and rosette grasses. Woodlands on these slopes are generally similar to those found historically.

The woodlands are surrounded by grasslands and oak savannas. On Evant soils, savannas are dominated by post oak, while Texas live oak is dominant on most other soils. Grasslands were historically dominated by little bluestem and sideoats grama; yellow bluestem is codominant to dominant in most areas.

Fuels:
Little information was available about fuels in these woodlands at the time of the wildfires.

Historical fire regime:
Study sites are classified in the following plant community and probably historically experienced the fire regime described below:

Table 2. Fire regime information on the vegetation community studied in this Research Project Summary. Fire regime characteristics are taken from the LANDFIRE Rapid Assessment Vegetation Model [3]. This vegetation model was developed by local experts using available literature and expert opinion as documented in the PDF file linked from the Potential Natural Vegetation Group listed below. Cells are blank where information is not available in the Rapid Assessment Vegetation Model.
Vegetation Community (Potential Natural Vegetation Group) Fire severity* Fire regime characteristics
Percent of fires Mean interval
(years)
Minimum interval
(years)
Maximum interval
(years)
Oak woodland-shrubland-grassland mosaic Replacement 11% 50    
Mixed 56% 10    
Surface or low 33% 17    
*Fire Severities:
Replacement=Any fire that causes greater than 75% top removal of a vegetation-fuel type, resulting in general replacement of existing vegetation; may or may not cause a lethal effect on the plants.
Mixed=Any fire burning more than 5% of an area that does not qualify as a replacement, surface, or low-severity fire; includes mosaic and other fires that are intermediate in effects.
Surface or low=Any fire that causes less than 25% upper layer replacement and/or removal in a vegetation-fuel class but burns 5% or more of the area [1,2].

FIRE EFFECTS:
Season and severity classification:
Both wildfires were started in grasslands by military training activities. High winds moved the fires into the woodlands, where they burned largely as crown fires with areas of lower severity. Little information is available about fire weather or fire activity. The 1996 fire jumped across a 4-lane highway and burned through more than 4,000 ha of woodland, including 2,800 ha of golden-cheeked warbler habitat. Average high temperature during the fire was 24.4 ºC (36.5 ºC for the first 3 days). The 2009 fire was considerably smaller, but it still jumped across a 2-lane road. Average high temperature during the fire was 24.6 ºC. The 2nd fire did not burn through any transects on Evant soils.

Table 3. Fire descriptions.
Year Season Overall severity Vegetation* Substrate*
1996 winter
(February 2 – March 7)
mixed-severity crown fire 50% severely burned
35% moderately burned
20% severely burned
70% moderately burned
2009 spring
(April 3 - 12)
mixed-severity crown fire 30% moderately burned
50% lightly burned
45% moderately burned
45% lightly burned
*Transects were located ONLY in moderately to severely burned areas following the 1996 fire. Fire severity was measured in 7 plots along each transect using National Park Service methods [5]. Monitoring in 2009 was done on the same transects used following the 1996 fire.

Plant Phenology:
The 1996 fire occurred before most species had leafed out. The 2009 fire occurred shortly after most species had leafed out.

Wildfire effects:
The first wildfire had relatively small effects on understory density (stems ≤ 1.8 m tall) but much larger effects overstory density (stems > 1.8 m tall). On Evant soils, understory stem density returned to unburned levels by 2001 (postfire year 5) and was higher than unburned levels through 2010 (postfire year 14, Figure 3). Understory density on Eckrant and Real soils in postfire year 14 was only slightly less on burned than unburned transects. The overstory on all soils was almost eliminated by the first wildfire, at least initially (Figure 4). On Evant and Eckrant soils, overstory density returned to unburned levels by postfire year 5 and, at least on Evant soils, continued to increase. On the more mesic Real soils, overstory density was similar to unburned levels by postfire year 2 and had more than doubled by postfire year 4. Even though overstory density has recovered to (or increased over) unburned levels, basal area is still much lower than in the unburned areas (Evant: 3 m²/ha vs. 23 m²/ha; Eckrant: 1 m²/ha vs. 17 m²/ha; Real: 3 m²/ha vs. 18 m²/ha).

Stem density response in both the under- and overstory differed greatly between the first and second fires. On both Eckrant and Real soils, twice-burned understory density in 2009 (the summer after the second fire) was about three times as high as in 1996 (the summer after the first fire) (Figure 3). Density decreased in each of the following years, but, at least on Eckrant soils, remained higher than both once-burned and unburned density. Overstory density, on the other hand, recovered more slowly (Figure 4). Recovery after the second fire lagged about a year behind recovery after the first fire. Thus in 2011 (year 2 after the 2nd fire), twice-burned overstory stem density on Real soils was similar to once-burned density in 1997 (year 1 after the 1st fire). On Eckrant soils, no overstory stems were found in the first two summers after the second fire; density in 2011 (year 2 after the 2nd fire) was 85% lower than it had been in 1999 (year 2 after the 1st fire).

Most species present in unburned transects were also present in the postfire communities because the majority of woody species in these woodlands regenerate after fire by sprouting. Notable exceptions include Ashe juniper, which does not sprout; and Rooseveltweed and prairie sumac, which sprout but also colonize burned areas from seed. Although the dominant oak species have remained the same, the codominant Ashe juniper has recovered very slowly. In year 14 after the first fire, stem density was still less than 5% of that in unburned communities.

After the first wildfire, most species on all three soils types increased in density for the first three growing seasons (Evant: 65% of species; Eckrant: 43%; Real: 63%; Table 2), but their density later declined (Evant: 35%; Eckrant: 46%; Real: 32%). These are identified in table 2 as species that “peaked”. After the second wildfire, many species decreased in density for the first three growing seasons (Eckrant: 37%; Real: 44%). Bastard's oak density, for example, increased in the 3 summers after the first fire on Evant and Real soils but later declined (see appendix for species density graphs). After the second fire on Eckrant and Real soils, bastard oak density declined. Rooseveltweed density increased in the 3 summers after the first fire on all three soil types, although it was not present in 1996 on any soil (and is also absent from most unburned transects). In year 14 after the first fire, density in the once-burned areas had peaked on Eckrant and Real soils but was continuing to increase on Evant soils. Rooseveltweed is still absent from twice-burned areas. Chinaberrytree, the most common non-native woody species found in the study area, was usually absent from Evant and Eckrant soils. On Real soils, it increased after the first fire but was absent after the second. (It was present in only one of the twice-burned transects before the second fire.)

While most species' density in the once-burned areas returned to unburned levels in the 14 years studied, a few species still had much higher stem density than in unburned areas. On Evant soils, these species include cedar-elm, dewberry, eastern poison-ivy, possumhaw, Rooseveltweed, and saw greenbrier; on Eckrant soils, they include eastern poison-ivy, paleleaf yucca, and pricklypears; and on Real soils, they include paleleaf yucca, saw greenbrier, and sweet mountain grape. After the second wildfire, most species' density declined; notable exceptions include the pricklypears and saw greenbrier, which continued to increase in density, particularly on Eckrant soils .

Figure 3. Average understory (stems <1.8 m tall) stem density from once-burned (1996), twice-burned (1996 and 2009), and unburned transects. Data were not collected every year. No transects on Evant soils were burned in the second fire.


Figure 4. Average overstory (stems >1.8 m tall) stem density from once-burned (1996), twice-burned (1996 and 2009), and unburned transects. Data were not collected every year. No transects on Evant soils were burned in the second fire.


Table 4. Density response after crown fires in oak-juniper woodlands. Species responses for the 1st fire were analyzed for all years, and also for 1996 to 1998 (years 0-2). Species responses for the 2nd fire are analyzed for 2009 to 2011 (years 0-2).

absent = Absent after fire (if in parentheses, that species was not found in the twice-burned transects even before the fire, but was found in other transects on that soil).
decreasing = Density decreases continuously; dip = density initially decreases and then increases.
increasing = Density increases continuously; peak = density increases and then later decreases.
-- = Species not found on that soil type or is too uncommon to determine a response.
italics = Absent for first 1-2 years after fire.
bold = Species response after 2nd fire is opposite that after 1st fire (years 0-2).
 
Evant
Eckrant
Real
 
1st fire
1st fire
2nd fire
1st fire
  (all years) (years 0-2) (all years) (years 0-2) (years 0-2) (all years) (years 0-2)
algerita -- -- increasing absent (absent) -- --
Ashe juniper increasing variable increasing increasing absent peak increasing
bastard oak peak increasing decreasing variable decreasing peak increasing
black prairie clover -- -- increasing increasing absent -- --
blackjack oak peak increasing -- -- -- -- --
Buckley's oak variable increasing dip decreasing decreasing decreasing decreasing
Carolina buckthorn -- -- -- -- -- increasing variable
cedar-elm variable increasing dip variable (absent) peak increasing
Chinaberrytree -- -- -- -- -- increasing increasing
chinkapin oak -- -- -- -- -- variable variable
common hoptree -- -- variable variable absent variable decreasing
dewberry peak increasing peak increasing variable variable variable
eastern poison-ivy peak increasing peak increasing decreasing peak increasing
Eve’s necklacepod peak variable variable variable absent variable increasing
evergreen sumac -- -- peak decreasing variable variable increasing
gum bully variable increasing variable increasing variable peak increasing
Jersey tea -- -- -- -- -- variable increasing
mescal bean -- -- peak increasing decreasing peak variable
Mexican plum -- -- -- -- -- variable variable
mustang grape peak increasing -- -- -- peak absent
netleaf hackberry variable increasing dip variable variable variable increasing
plums -- -- peak increasing absent -- --
possumhaw dip increasing variable variable variable peak decreasing
post oak dip decreasing -- -- -- -- --
prairie sumac peak increasing peak increasing decreasing variable variable
pricklypear increasing increasing increasing increasing increasing peak increasing
Rooseveltweed increasing increasing peak increasing absent peak increasing
roughleaf dogwood -- -- -- -- -- variable variable
rusty blackhaw increasing variable variable decreasing variable increasing variable
saw greenbrier increasing increasing increasing increasing increasing increasing increasing
sevenleaf creeper -- -- peak variable decreasing peak increasing
skunkbush sumac variable increasing peak variable decreasing variable variable
sorrelvine -- -- variable variable absent -- --
Spanish grape peak variable peak increasing (absent) peak variable
stretchberry variable variable variable variable decreasing variable increasing
sweet mountain grape variable decreasing peak decreasing variable increasing increasing
sycamoreleaf snowbell -- -- -- -- -- variable increasing
Texas ash variable increasing peak variable decreasing variable increasing
Texas Hercules'-club -- -- variable decreasing decreasing dip increasing
Texas live oak variable variable variable variable variable variable variable
Texas mulberry -- -- -- -- -- variable increasing
Texas persimmon -- -- variable increasing increasing increasing increasing
Texas redbud -- -- peak decreasing decreasing variable increasing
walnuts -- -- -- -- -- increasing increasing
western white honeysuckle peak variable peak decreasing variable peak increasing
yucca variable increasing peak increasing decreasing increasing increasing


Table 5. Density in postfire year 0 (mean ± standard error).
H = Significantly higher than density in unburned transects (average of 2001, 2005, and 2010,
       not shown here).
L = Significantly lower than density in unburned transects.
* = Significantly higher after second fire than first fire (α = 0.05).
-- = Species uncommon or not found on that soil type.
 
Evant
Eckrant
Real
 

1st fire

1st fire

2nd fire

1st fire

2nd fire

algerita -- 0 0 -- --
Ashe juniper 0 L 0 L 0 L 0 L 0 L
bastard oak 229±172 24320±4520 62993±10342 H* 7794±2469 30286±7682 H*
black prairie clover -- 0 0 -- --
blackjack oak 0 L -- -- -- --
Buckley's oak 967±629 2338±1018 5943±1589 10626±1186 29039±7215 H*
Carolina buckthorn -- -- -- 129±65 L 119±70 L
cedar-elm 637±285 329±236 0 0 L 0
Chinaberrytree -- -- -- 0 0
chinkapin oak -- -- -- 47±47 0
common hoptree -- 17±17 0 17±17 109±109
dewberry 33±23 L 9±6 76±76 0 210±210
eastern poison-ivy 3624±1307 2415±514 48071±8380 H* 3227±585 28161±4852 H*
Eve’s necklacepod 0 0 0 0 0
evergreen sumac -- 720±512 1157±442 330±180 2753±1364 H*
gum bully 729±231 529±159 829±503 748±181 1408±513
Jersey tea -- -- -- 0 197±197
mescal bean -- 480±261 4536±1348 H* 1207±543 4753±2703
Mexican buckeye -- 246±206 2307±1786 H* 209±83 1169±584 *
Mexican plum 0 -- -- 10±10 416±416
mustang grape 5±5 L -- -- 0 36±36
netleaf hackberry 267±137 494±231 900±662 70±42 5±5
plums -- 0 0 -- --
possumhaw 1252±521 271±199 607±421 1029±457 4659±3425
post oak 3196±1442 -- -- -- --
prairie sumac 1390±299 H 1014±153 20243±2679 H* 1925±586 24057±6275 H*
pricklypear 0 L 0 L 164±87 * 0 L 69±30 L
Rooseveltweed 0 0 0 0 0
roughleaf dogwood -- -- -- 0 57±57
rusty blackhaw 281±182 87±45 393±393 415±253 779±393
saw greenbrier 3429±1053 646±218 1543±530 740±148 2301±724 *
sevenleaf creeper -- 2±2 464±464 0 416±286
skunkbush sumac 24±19 1473±826 8400±2977 H* 1453±795 7699±1854 H*
sorrelvine -- 0 0 -- --
Spanish grape 5±5 L 0 L 0 97±59 353±303
stretchberry 181±105 256±144 693±498 57±46 951±470 H*
sweet mountain grape 76±71 370±146 579±306 581±163 1777±677 *
sycamoreleaf snowbell -- -- -- 67±67 914±914
Texas ash 814±505 L 2246±590 L 1350±724 L 1990±465 9034±3447 *
Texas Hercules'-club -- 7±7 21±21 0 0
Texas live oak 1886±1448 3381±1281 836±836 199±123 343±337
Texas mulberry -- -- -- 0 0
Texas persimmon -- 114±65 50±50 152±87 603±322
Texas redbud -- 842±243 5186±1838 H* 877±250 3039±621
walnuts -- -- -- 0 L 0
western white honeysuckle 57±31 67±32 214±109 30±18 769±455 *
yucca 0 0 1147±754 0 429±208 *


Photo 1: Unburned bastard oak-Ashe juniper woodland on Eckrant soil. C. Reemts, 20 August 2010, The Nature Conservancy.


Photo 2: Once-burned bastard oak shrubland on Eckrant in 2005, 9 years after the first fire. C. Reemts, July 2005, The Nature Conservancy.


Photo 3: The same site as Photo 2, less than 1 month following the second fire. C. Reemts, 1 May 2009, The Nature Conservancy.


Photo 4: The same site as Photos 2 and 3, two years after the second fire. C. Reemts, July 2011, The Nature Conservancy.


Photo 5: View of twice-burned slope (Real soil) in June 2009 (2 months following the second fire). C. Reemts, 25 June 2009, The Nature Conservancy.


Photo 6: View of twice-burned slope (Real soil) one year after the second fire. C. Reemts, 13 July 2010, The Nature Conservancy.

MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS:
The wildfires changed the structure of the burned woodlands much more than they changed the species composition. Relatively tall woodlands with mostly continuous canopy were converted into much shorter and more open shrublands. The major change in species composition is the absence of Ashe juniper after both wildfires. This change, however, is very important, because Ashe juniper is a critical habitat component for the federally endangered golden-cheeked warbler. Even 14 years after the first wildfire, burned areas are not suitable habitat. However, the federally endangered black-capped vireo uses short, open shrublands for its nesting habitat. On slopes (Real soils), burned areas are suitable black-capped vireo habitat for ~3 years after the fires, while sites on Evant and Eckrant soils can be used for much longer (at least up to 14 years).

The second wildfire did not further change species composition but did further alter vegetation structure. Initial density of understory stems was much higher after the second than after the first fire, perhaps because the reburned plants were smaller than before the first fire. Some species lose the ability to resprout after they reach a certain size, while sprouting ability decreases in many others. The somewhat lower fire intensity may also have contributed to the increased postfire sprouting. Because of the increased stem density, overstory basal area is recovering slightly more slowly from the second fire than from the first. Plants that invest energy into sprouting many stems have less energy to devote to growing large stems.

Historically, the vegetation in this area was likely a shifting mosaic of mature, rarely-burned woodlands and burned woodlands in varying stages of recovery from fire. Managing such a shifting mosaic is possible only in very large management units, because of the long recovery time for the mature woodlands. For this reason, wildfires should be suppressed in current golden-cheeked warbler habitat, especially in small patches where a single fire could destroy all available habitat. Overmature black-capped vireo habitat can be restored through prescribed fire or mechanical treatments. Where wildfire has created black-capped vireo habitat, these restoration practices can maintain it in a suitable successional stage.

RESOURCES:
Charlotte Reemts, Vegetation Ecologist, Fort Hood Project, The Nature Conservancy. Currently Research and Monitoring Ecologist, creemts@tnc.org.


APPENDIX: SPECIES INCLUDED IN THIS SUMMARY
This Management Project Summary contains information on the following taxa. For further information, follow the highlighted links to the density graphs and/or FEIS reviews of these taxa. Density graphs and FEIS reviews are unavailable if cells are blank.

Common name Scientific name Links to density graphs and FEIS reviews, if available
Cacti
pricklypear Opuntia spp.* density graph
Grasses
composite dropseed Sporobolus compositus FEIS review
dropseeds Sporobolus spp.  
little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium FEIS review
rosette grasses Dichanthelium spp.  
Texas wintergrass Nassella leucotricha  
threeawns Aristida spp.  
sideoats grama Bouteloua curtipendula FEIS review
yellow bluestem Bothriochloa ischaemum  
Lianas
dewberry Rubus spp.* density graph
mustang grape Vitis mustangensis density graph
eastern poison-ivy Toxicodendron radicans density graph

FEIS review
saw greenbrier Smilax bona-nox density graph

FEIS review
sevenleaf creeper Parthenocissus heptaphylla density graph
sorrelvine Cissus trifoliata  
Spanish grape Vitis cinerea density graph
sweet mountain grape Vitis monticola density graph
western white honeysuckle Lonicera albiflora density graph
Shrubs
algerita Mahonia trifoliolata density graph

FEIS review
black prairie clover Dalea frutescens density graph
Carolina buckthorn Frangula caroliniana density graph
common hoptree Ptelea trifoliata density graph
evergreen sumac Rhus virens density graph
gum bully Sideroxylon lanuginosum density graph
Jersey tea Ceanothus herbaceus density graph
mescal bean Sophora secundiflora density graph

FEIS review
Mexican buckeye Ungnadia speciosa density graph

FEIS review
Mexican plum Prunus mexicana density graph
plums Prunus spp.*  
possumhaw Ilex decidua density graph

FEIS review
prairie sumac Rhus lanceolata density graph
Rooseveltweed Baccharis neglecta density graph
roughleaf dogwood Cornus drummondii density graph
rusty blackhaw Viburnum rufidulum density graph
skunkbush sumac Rhus trilobata density graph

FEIS review
stretchberry Forestiera pubescens density graph
sycamoreleaf snowbell Styrax platanifolius subsp. platanifolius density graph
Texas Hercules'-club Zanthoxylum hirsutum  
Texas mulberry Morus microphylla  
Texas persimmon Diospyros texana density graph

FEIS review
Texas redbud Cercis canadensis var. texensis density graph

FEIS review
yucca Yucca spp.* density graph
Trees
Ashe juniper Juniperus ashei density graph

FEIS review
bastard oak Quercus sinuata var. breviloba density graph
blackjack oak Quercus marilandica density graph

FEIS review
Buckley's oak Quercus buckleyi density graph
cedar-elm Ulmus crassifolia density graph
Chinaberrytree Melia azedarach density graph

FEIS review
chinkapin oak Quercus muehlenbergii FEIS review
Eve's necklacepod Styphnolobium affine density graph
netleaf hackberry Celtis reticulata density graph

FEIS review
post oak Quercus stellata density graph

FEIS review
Texas ash Fraxinus texensis density graph
Texas live oak Quercus fusiformis density graph
walnuts Juglans spp.*  
*Opuntia spp.: Mostly O. engelmannii var. lindheimeri, but also includes O. engelmannii var. linguiformis, O. macrorhiza, and O. phaeacantha. Grouped due to inconsistent identification of less common species.
Rubus spp.: Mostly R. trivialis, but also includes R. aboriginum. Grouped due to inconsistent identification of R. aboriginum.
Prunus spp.: Mostly P. munsoniana, but also includes P. umbellata.
Yucca spp.: Mostly Y. pallida, but also includes Y. arkansana.
Juglans spp.: Mostly J. major, but also includes J. nigra.

REFERENCES:


1. Barrett, S.; Havlina, D.; Jones, J.; Hann, W.; Frame, C.; Hamilton, D.; Schon, K.; Demeo, T.; Hutter, L.; Menakis, J. 2010. Interagency Fire Regime Condition Class Guidebook. Version 3.0, [Online]. In: Interagency Fire Regime Condition Class (FRCC). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; U.S. Department of the Interior; The Nature Conservancy (Producers). Available: http://www.frcc.gov/ [2013, May 13]. [85876]
2. LANDFIRE Rapid Assessment. 2005. Reference condition modeling manual (Version 2.1), [Online]. In: LANDFIRE. Cooperative Agreement 04-CA-11132543-189. Boulder, CO: The Nature Conservancy; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; U.S. Department of the Interior (Producers). 72 p. Available: http://www.landfire.gov/downloadfile.php?file=RA_Modeling_Manual_v2_1.pdf [2007, May 24]. [66741]
3. LANDFIRE Rapid Assessment. 2007. Rapid assessment reference condition models, [Online]. In: LANDFIRE. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Lab; U.S. Geological Survey; The Nature Conservancy (Producers). Available: http://www.landfire.gov/models_EW.php [2008, April 18] [66533]
4. Reemts, Charlotte M.; Hansen, Laura L. 2008. Slow recolonization of burned oak-juniper woodlands by Ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei): ten years of succession after crown fire. Forest Ecology and Management. 255(3-4): 1057-1066. [69954]
5. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Western Region. 1992. Western Region Fire Monitoring Handbook. San Francisco, CA: U.S. Department of the Inerior, National Park Service, Western Region. 89 p. [86310]

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