Dwarf birch
Betula nana
Family: Betulaceae
Fire effect on plant
Low- and moderate-severity fire likely cause top-kill in dwarf birch, with belowground buds surviving. Severe fires may cause mortality.
Key traits
Dwarf birch, a prostrate shrub up to 1 m tall, is rare in the British Isles, being found very locally in mainland Scotland. This species has an extensive underground system, with rhizomes and roots accounting for 80% of total plant biomass (Chapin 1980; Chapin et al. 1980). This species can regenerate after top-kill by fire by resprouting from the root crown and rhizomes after low- and moderate-severity fire (Racine et al. 1987, de Groot et al. 1997).
Dwarf birch is a prolific seed producer (Whittaker 1993). However, recruitment of seedlings on burned sites appears to depend on seed carried in by wind (Ebersole 1989; Tollefson 2007), suggesting that its seed does not survive fire in the soil seed back (although not explicitly stated in the literature). Regardless, successful establishment from seed is rare, so vegetative resprouting is a more important mechanism for recovery after fire.
Plant response to fire
Dwarf birch is slow-growing (de Groot et al. 1997); therefore, although it can survive fire, burning that is too frequent and that diminishes belowground stores will cause population declines.
Timing of life history
Long-lived perennial. Time to maturity unclear but likely several years. Flowering March to May.
Conservation status
None.
References
Chapin, F. Stuart, III. 1980. Nutrient allocation and responses to defoliation in tundra plants. Arctic and Alpine Research. 12(4): 553-563. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Chapin, F. Stuart, III; Johnson, Douglas A.; McKendrick, Jay D. 1980. Seasonal movement of nutrients in plants of differing growth form in an Alaskan tundra ecosystem: implications for herbivory. Journal of Ecology. 68(1): 189-202 [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Ebersole, James J. 1989. Role of seed bank in providing colonizers on a tundra disturbance in Alaska. Canadian Journal of Botany. 67: 466-471 [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
de Groot, W. J.; Thomas, P. A.; Wein, Ross W. 1997. Biological flora of the British Isles: No. 194. Betula nana L. and Betula glandulosa Michx. Journal of Ecology. 85(2): 241-264. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Tollefson, Jennifer E. 2007. Betula nana. 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/shrub/betnan/all.html [2024, February 15]. [Empirical evidence; Grey literature]
Racine, Charles H.; Johnson, Lawrence A.; Viereck, Leslie A. 1987. Patterns of vegetation recovery after tundra fires in northwestern Alaska, U.S.A. Arctic and Alpine Research. 19(4): 461-469. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Whittaker, Robert J. 1993. Plant population patterns in a glacier foreland succession: pioneer herbs and later-colonizing shrubs. Ecography. 16(2): 117-136. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]