Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Arnica cordifolia
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| Heartleaf arnica. Image by Mary Ellen (Mel) Harte, Bugwood.org. |
Introductory
SPECIES: Arnica cordifolia
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION:
Reed, William R. 1993. Arnica cordifolia. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/forb/arncor/all.html [].
Images were added on 03 April 2019.
ABBREVIATION:
ARNCOR
SYNONYMS:
Arnica cordifolia var. cordifolia
Arnica cordifolia var. pumila (Rydb.) Maquire [21,29]
NRCS PLANT CODE:
ARCO9
COMMON NAMES:
heartleaf arnica
heart-leaved arnica
TAXONOMY:
The scientific name of heartleaf arnica is Arnica cordifolia Hook. (Asteraceae) [15,34].
LIFE FORM:
Forb
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS:
No special status
OTHER STATUS:
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Arnica cordifolia
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:
Heartleaf arnica is found from Alaska east to Saskatchewan and south to
northern Mexico and Nebraska [34,44]. A disjunct population occurs on
the Keweenaw Peninsula of northern Michigan [18].
ECOSYSTEMS:
FRES11 Spruce - fir
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES19 Aspen - birch
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES22 Western white pine
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES25 Larch
FRES26 Lodgepole pine
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES44 Alpine
STATES:
AL AZ CA CO ID MI MT NE NM ND
OR SD UT WA WY AB BC SK YT MEXICO
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS:
1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
3 Southern Pacific Border
4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
6 Upper Basin and Range
7 Lower Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
14 Great Plains
15 Black Hills Uplift
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:
K007 Red fir forest
K008 Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
K011 Western ponderosa forest
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K013 Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
K015 Western spruce - fir forest
K016 Eastern ponderosa forest
K017 Black Hills pine forest
K018 Pine - Douglas-fir forest
K021 Southwestern spruce - fir forest
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K029 California mixed evergreen forest
K037 Mountain-mahogany - oak scrub
K052 Alpine meadows and barren
K055 Sagebrush steppe
K098 Northern floodplain forest
SAF COVER TYPES:
201 White spruce
204 Black spruce
205 Mountain hemlock
206 Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
207 Red fir
208 Whitebark pine
209 Bristlecone pine
256 California mixed subalpine
210 Interior Douglas-fir
211 White fir
212 Western larch
213 Grand fir
215 Western white pine
216 Blue spruce
217 Aspen
218 Lodgepole pine
219 Limber pine
224 Western hemlock
228 Western redcedar
237 Interior ponderosa pine
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES:
Heartleaf arnica is a dominant ground cover in many forest communities
of the West. Publications listing heartleaf arnica as a dominant or
indicator species are:
Classification of the forest vegetation of Wyoming [1]
Fire ecology of the forest habitat types of central Idaho [10]
Forest vegetation of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests in
central Colorado: a habitat type classification [20]
Forest vegetation of Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming: a habitat type
classification [22]
Plant associations of the Fremont National Forest [23]
Forest vegetation of the Gunnison and parts of the Uncompahgre National
Forests: a preliminary habitat type classification [26]
Common plant associates of heartleaf arnica include huckleberry
(Vaccinium spp.), sweetscented bedstraw (Galium triflorum), queencup
beadlily (Clintonia uniflora), twinflower (Linnaea borealis), pussytoes
(Antennaria spp.), timber milkvetch (Astragalus miser), elk sedge (Carex
geyeri), and bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata).
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Arnica cordifolia
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE:
In northern Utah heartleaf arnica is an important constituent of summer
diets of mule deer and elk [9]. Deschamps and Urness [12] found it
comprised 24 percent of summer deer diets in mature lodgepole pine
(Pinus contorta) forests in Utah.
PALATABILITY:
In Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming, the palatability of heartleaf
arnica is rated poor to fair for cattle, fair to good for sheep, and
poor for horses [13].
NUTRITIONAL VALUE:
Heartleaf arnica is rated fair in nutritional value for pronghorn,
upland game birds, small mammals, and small nongame mammals. It is
rated fair to good in nutritional value for elk and deer [13].
COVER VALUE:
Heartleaf arnica provides poor cover for wildlife [13].
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:
Heartleaf arnica has low resistance to repeated human trampling [8,37].
OTHER USES AND VALUES:
NO-ENTRY
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
Heartleaf arnica showed a substantial increase after heavy thinning of
lodgepole pine stands in Utah. Production increased from 6.05 pounds
per acre (1.1 kg/ha) before treatment to 83.6 pounds per acre (15.2
kg/ha) 4 years after treatment [2].
Heartleaf arnica cover increased from 0.3 percent to 5.0 percent
following clearcutting in a subalpine forest in central Colorado [11].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Arnica cordifolia
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Heartleaf arnica is a native, perennial herb 6 to 24 inches (15-60 cm)
tall, with upright stems arising singly from long, slender, creeping
rhizomes [18]. Rhizomes grow laterally 0.4 to 0.8 inches (1-2 cm) below
the soil surface [7]. Root depths of 24 inches (60.9 cm) have been
recorded in Montana [35].
The life span of heartleaf arnica is estimated at 12 years [6].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM:
Geophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES:
Sexual: Heartleaf arnica reproduces by wind-dispersed seed [6,7]. In
central Idaho, Kramer and Johnson [27] found 25 percent of heartleaf
arnica seed was in the upper 2 inches (5 cm) of soil, while 75 percent
was 2 to 5 inches (5-10 cm) below the soil surface.
Asexual: Heartleaf arnica sprouts from rhizomes [7,24,32].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS:
Heartleaf arnica occurs in boreal and cool temperate climates. It is
commonly found in open-canopy coniferous forests on high elevation
water-shedding sites. It often inhabits exposed, moderately dry mineral
soils, but occurs on a variety of soil types [25]. In California it is
found from 3,500 to 10,000 feet (1,050-3,000 m), in dry to moist open or
wooded places [33]. In Utah it is found from 5,000 to 11,000 feet
(1,525-3,355 m) [44]. Occurrence increases with elevation. In the
Madison Range of Montana it is the primary ground cover in subalpine fir
(Abies lasiocarpa) forests above 9,000 feet (2,723 m) [36].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS:
Heartleaf arnica is tolerant of both sun and shade, and may be present
from initial to late seres [42,47]. Geier-Hayes found it increased the
first 2 years following logging in a Douglas-fir/white spiraea
(Pseudotsuga menziesii/Spiraea betulifolia) habitat type in central
Idaho [17]. This was probably due to mass flowering, which occurs 1 to
2 years after disturbance [41]. Heartleaf arnica importance apparently
decreases within a few years after disturbance-induced mass flowering
and increases again in later seres, possibly through vegetative
reproduction. Steele and Geier-Hayes [46] found it reached highest
coverage in late seral stages of the grand fir/globe huckleberry (Abies
grandis/Vaccinium globulare) habitat type of central Idaho. It is a
near-climax indicator of that habitat type.
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Heartleaf arnica flowers from May through August in California [33] and
May through September in Colorado [13]. In Montana, flowering begins in
early June, fruits ripen in mid-July, and seeds are dispersed at the end
of July [40].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Arnica cordifolia
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS:
Heartleaf arnica is moderately fire resistant [31,37], typically
sprouting from surviving rhizomes after fire [7,24,32]. It also
regenerates from wind-dispersed seed [7,45], and from seed resulting
from mass flowering at postfire year 1 or 2 [42].
FIRE REGIMES:
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY:
Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)
Secondary colonizer - on-site seed
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Arnica cordifolia
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT:
Heartleaf arnica is top-killed by fire. Rhizomes often survive. It is
rated as susceptible [7,31] to intermediate [24] in resistance to fire
damage. This probably varies according to how far below the soil
surface rhizomes are buried.
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE:
Heartleaf arnica sprouts from the rhozomnes after top-kill by fire.
It is apparently reduced by "high intensity" fires [24,30], but
responds to "less intense" fires through rapid initial
vegetative regrowth accompanied by heavy flowering and seedling
establishment [24,42]. This is typically followed by a decline in cover
and frequency within a few years [17]. Heartleaf arnica had the highest
frequency and cover of all forbs 2 years following a severe fire
(greater than 90 percent mortality of all trees) in a spruce-fir
(Picea-Abies) ecosystem in Wyoming [3]. Frequency and cover values
increased for 2 years following logging and broadcast burning in a
Douglas-fir habitat type in Idaho. This trend was followed by a decline
to 0 percent cover by postfire year 10 [17].
 |
| Heartleaf arnica sprouts in flower in postfire year 1, following the 2017 Park Creek Fire near Lincoln, Montana. Common beargrass is sprouting to the right of the log. Image by Garon Smith, used with permission. |
According to Barth [4], light, moisture, and soil depth are important
factors determining the postfire density of heartleaf arnica.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE:
On ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir communities in the Blue Mountains
of northeastern Oregon, heartleaf arnica cover and frequency were higher
on sites that had been thinned 6 years previously than on prescribed
burned, thinned-and-burned, or control sites. Heartleaf arnica was determined to be
an indicator species for thinned sites (P≤0.05). For further information on the
effects of thinning and burning treatments on heartleaf arnica and 48 other
species, see the Research Project Summary of Youngblood and others' [50] study.
The Research Paper and Research Project Summary of Hamilton's [48,49] studies,
and Lyon's Research Paper also provide information on prescribed
fire and postfire response of many plant species, including heartleaf arnica.
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
NO-ENTRY
References for species: Arnica cordifolia
1. Alexander, Robert R. 1986. Classification of the forest vegetation of Wyoming. Res. Note RM-466. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 10 p. [304]
2. Austin, D. D.; Urness, Philip J. 1982. Vegetal responses and big game values after thinning regenerating lodgepole pine. The Great Basin Naturalist. 42(4): 512-516. [8354]
3. Barmore, William J., Jr.; Taylor, Dale; Hayden, Peter. 1976. Ecological effects and biotic succession following the 1974 Waterfalls Canyon Fire in Grand Teton National Park. Research Progress Report 1974-1975. Unpublished report on file at: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Fire Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT. 99 p. [16109]
4. Barth, Richard C. 1970. Revegetation after a subalpine wildfire. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University. 142 p. Thesis. [12458]
5. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p. [434]
6. Bierzychudek, Paulette. 1982. Life histories and demography of shade-tolerant temperate forest herbs: a review. New Phytologist. 90: 757-776. [19197]
7. Bradley, Anne F.; Noste, Nonan V.; Fischer, William C. 1992. Fire ecology of forests and woodlands of Utah. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-287. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. 128 p. [18212]
8. Cole, David N. 1988. Disturbance and recovery of trampled montane grassland and forests in Montana. Res. Pap. INT-389. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. 37 p. [3622]
9. Collins, William B.; Urness, Philip J. 1983. Feeding behavior and habitat selection of mule deer and elk on northern Utah summer range. Journal of Wildlife Management. 47(3): 646-663. [6915]
10. Crane, M. F.; Fischer, William C. 1986. Fire ecology of the forest habitat types of central Idaho. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-218. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. 85 p. [5297]
11. Crouch, Glenn L. 1985. Effects of clearcutting a subalpine forest in central Colorado on wildlife habitat. Res. Pap. RM-258. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 12 p. [8225]
12. Deschamp, Joseph A.; Urness, Philip J.; Austin, Dennis D. 1979. Summer diets of mule deer from lodgepole pine habitats. Journal of Wildlife Management. 43(1): 154-161. [4524]
13. Dittberner, Phillip L.; Olson, Michael R. 1983. The plant information network (PIN) data base: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. FWS/OBS-83/86. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. 786 p. [806]
14. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
15. Fernald, Merritt Lyndon. 1950. Gray's manual of botany. [Corrections supplied by R. C. Rollins]. Portland, OR: Dioscorides Press. 1632 p. (Dudley, Theodore R., gen. ed.; Biosystematics, Floristic & Phylogeny Series; vol. 2) [14935]
16. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others]. 1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
17. Geier-Hayes, Kathleen. 1989. Vegetation response to helicopter logging and broadcast burning in Douglas-fir habitat types at Silver Creek, central Idaho. Res. Pap. INT-405. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. 24 p. [6810]
18. Great Plains Flora Association. 1986. Flora of the Great Plains. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. 1392 p. [1603]
19. Hall, Frederick C. 1976. Fire and vegetation in the Blue Mountains: implications for land managers. In: Proceedings, annual Tall Timbers fire ecology conference; 1974 October 16-17; Portland, Oregon. No. 15. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers Research Station: 155-170. [6272]
20. Hess, Karl; Alexander, Robert R. 1986. Forest vegetation of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests in central Colorado: a habitat type classification. Res. Pap. RM-266. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 48 p. [1141]
21. Hitchcock, C. Leo; Cronquist, Arthur. 1973. Flora of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. 730 p. [1168]
22. Hoffman, George R.; Alexander, Robert R. 1976. Forest vegetation of the Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming: a habitat type classification. Res. Pap. RM-170. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 38 p. [1180]
23. Hopkins, William E. 1979. Plant associations of the Fremont National Forest. R6-ECOL-79-004. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region. 106 p. [7340]
24. Keown, Larry D. 1978. Fire management in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, Moose Creek Ranger District, Nezperce National Forest. Missoula, MT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Region. 163. [18633]
25. Klinka, K.; Krajina, V. J.; Ceska, A.; Scagel, A. M. 1989. Indicator plants of coastal British Columbia. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press. 288 p. [10703]
26. Komarkova, Vera; Alexander, Robert R.; Johnston, Barry C. 1988. Forest vegetation of the Gunnison and parts of the Uncompahgre National Forests: a preliminary habitat type classification. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-163. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 65 p. [5798]
27. Kramer, Neal B.; Johnson, Frederic D. 1987. Mature forest seed banks of three habitat types in central Idaho. Canadian Journal of Botany. 65: 1961-1966. [3961]
28. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York: American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
29. Lackschewitz, Klaus. 1991. Vascular plants of west-central Montana--identification guidebook. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-227. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. 648 p. [13798]
30. Lyon, L. Jack. 1971. Vegetal development following prescribed burning of Douglas-fir in south-central Idaho. Res. Pap. INT-105. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 30 p. [1495]
31. McLean, Alastair. 1968. Fire resistance of forest species as influenced by root systems. Journal of Range Management. 22: 120-122. [1621]
32. Mitchell, Jerry M. 1984. Fire management action plan: Zion National Park, Utah. Record of Decision. 73 p. Report on file at: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT. [17278]
33. Munz, Philip A. 1973. A California flora and supplement. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 1905 p. [6155]
34. Munz, Philip A. 1974. A flora of southern California. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 1086 p. [4924]
35. Nimlos, Thomas J.; Van Meter, Wayne P.; Daniels, Lewis A. 1968. Rooting patterns of forest understory species as determined by radioiodine absorption. Ecology. 49(6): 1145-1151. [4120]
36. Patten, D. T. 1963. Vegetational pattern in relation to environments in the Madison Range, Montana. Ecological Monographs. 33(4): 375-406. [1836]
37. Powell, David C. 1988. Aspen community types of the Pike and San Isabel National Forests in south-central Colorado. R2-ECOL-88-01. Denver, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region. 254 p. [15285]
38. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
39. Regelin, Wayne L.; Wallmo, Olof C. 1978. Duration of deer forage benefits after clearcut logging of subalpine forest in Colorado. RM-356. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 4 p. [4499]
40. Schmidt, Wyman C.; Lotan, James E. 1980. Phenology of common forest flora of the northern Rockies--1928 to 1937. Res. Pap. INT-259. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 20 p. [2082]
41. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 10 p. [20090]
42. Stickney, Peter F. 1993. Effects of fire on upland forests in the Northern Rocky Mountains. Unpublished paper on file at: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT: 3 p. [21627]
43. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982. National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names. SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p. [11573]
44. Welsh, Stanley L.; Atwood, N. Duane; Goodrich, Sherel; Higgins, Larry C., eds. 1987. A Utah flora. The Great Basin Naturalist Memoir No. 9. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University. 894 p. [2944]
45. Anderson, Jay E.; Romme, William H. 1991. Initial floristics in lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests following the 1988 Yellowstone fires. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 1(2): 119-124. [16008]
46. Steele, Robert; Geier-Hayes, Kathleen. 1987. The grand fir/blue huckleberry habitat type in central Idaho: succession and management. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-228. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. 66 p. [8133]
47. Steele, Robert; Geier-Hayes, Kathleen. 1989. The Douglas-fir/ninebark habitat type in central Idaho: succession and management. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-252. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. 65 p. [8136]
48. Hamilton, E. 2006. Vegetation development and fire effects at the Walker Creek site: comparison of forest floor and mineral soil plots. Tech. Rep. No. 026. Victoria, BC: British Columbia Ministry of Forests and Range, Forest Science Program. 28 p. [64621]
49. Hamilton, Evelyn; Peterson, Les. 2003. Response of vegetation to burning in a subalpine forest cutblock in central British Columbia: Otter Creek site. Research Report 23. Victoria, BC: British Columbia Ministry of Forestry, Research Branch. 60 p. [46111]
50. Youngblood, Andrew; Metlen, Kerry L.; Coe, Kent. 2006. Changes in stand structure and composition after restoration treatments in low elevation dry forests of northeastern Oregon. Forest Ecology and Management. 234(1-3): 143-163. [64992]
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