Deergrass or deersedg
Trichophorum cespitosum
Family: Cyperaceae
Fire effect on plant
Deergrass is likely top-killed by fire.
Key traits
Deergrass is a compact, clump-forming sedge that produces dense growth of smooth stems topped with a terminal brown flower. It has only fibrous roots (Aiken et al. 2007). Despite its close association with burned sites on bog and wet heath, its recovery mechanism is not explicitly described in the literature, but given its compact structure and basal meristems, it likely can resprout from basal buds.
The contribution of Deergrass seed to post-fire regeneration is unclear. Whilst Deergrass was common in the vegetation of a Calluna-dominated heath after wildfire, it was rare or absent in the germinable seedbank (Naszarkowski et al. 2023). Seed dispersal distances tend to be small (<1m; Lososová et al. 2023).
Plant response to fire
Fire benefits deergrass, and the burning of blanket bog and wet heath leads to a period of dominance of this species and other graminoids such as purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea) and hare’s tail cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum; Forrest and Smith 1975; Currall 1981). Burning on short rotations can lead to maintenance of the dense graminoid phase and hence dominance of deergrass (Currall 1981).
Timing of life history
Perennial species. Seeds likely produced from second growing season. Flowering May to August.
Conservation status
None.
References
Aiken, S.G., Dallwitz, M.J., Consaul, L.L., McJannet, C.L., Boles, R.L., Argus, G.W., Gillett, J.M., Scott, P.J., Elven, R., LeBlanc, M.C., Gillespie, L.J., Brysting, A.K., Solstad, H., and Harris, J.G. 2007. Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval. NRC Research Press, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa. http://nature.ca/aaflora/data, accessed on 20/02/2024. [Empirical evidence; Grey literature]
Currall, J.E.P. 1981. Some effects of management by fire on wet heath vegetation in western Scotland. Aberdeen: PhD thesis, University of Aberdeen. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Forrest, G.I. and Smith, R.A.H. 1975. The productivity of a range of blanket bog vegetation types in the Northern Pennines. Journal of Ecology 63: 173-199. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Lososová, Z., Axmanová, I., Chytrý, M., Midolo, G., Abdulhak, S., Karger, D.N., Renaud, J., Van Es, J., Vittoz, P. and Thuiller, W. 2023. Seed dispersal distance classes and dispersal modes for the European flora. Global Ecology and Biogeography 32: 1485–1494 [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Naszarkowski, N.A.L., Woodin, S.J., Ross, L.C., Hester, A.J. and Pakeman, R.J. 2023. Wildfire impacts on seedbank and vegetation dynamics in Calluna heath. Nordic Journal of Botany 2023: e03937. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]