Hare's tail cottongrass
Eriophorum vaginatum
Family: Cyperaceae
Fire effect on plant
Fires of low to moderate severity top-kill hare's tail cottongrass; severe fires may kill the entire plant (Innes 2014).
Key traits
A long-lived tussock-forming grass with a deep root system, plants can produce tillers from corms after fire. A corm is a bulbous underground stem and storage organ that can produce new subterranean lateral shoots (Innes 2014).
The seeds are likely killed by fires because it has been suggested that the maximum temperature for germination is 35C (Wein and McLean 1973). It produces high numbers of wind-blown seeds.
Plant response to fire
Hare’s tail cottongrass is considered to be fire-adapted (Racine et al. 2006; Innes 2014). It has been characterized as a fire-resister (e.g., Rowe 1983) for having traits that aid it in resisting the impact of fires (such as having the ability to insulate shoots and deep burial of root tissues). For example, its tussock growth form holds the base of the tussock close together and keeps them moist, helping protect meristems from fire heat. It has been suggested that the elevated position of the tussocks compared to the surrounding ground may increase the plant’s resistance to ground fires (Wein and Bliss 1973), where greater consumption of surface and ground fuels occurs between tussocks, leaving the tussocks standing high above the burned surface of the ground (C. Belcher, personal observation). Therefore, older larger tussocks are more protective than younger less well-developed tussocks. The tussocks have deep root systems and corms (adventitious buds) that tiller, producing new shoots from the base of the plant, recovering rapidly to pre-fire abundance (Saperstein 1996). Research has noted that culm density by 2 years after fire is 3x that of pre-fire densities (Racine 1981), and abundance was a considerably higher on burned compared to unburned plots in Alaska (Racine et al. 1987). Moreover, the season of burning appears to have an impact on post-fire mortality of hare’s tail cottongrass, where they have been observed to survive late winter early spring fires in Calluna-tussock cottongrass blanket bog in the Westmoreland, UK because they remain dormant at this time of year (Rawes and Hobbs 1979). Hare’s tail cottongrass also appears to be stimulated to flower after spring and early-summer fires in the UK and Alaska (Rawes and Hobbs 1979; Wein 1971). Prescribed fires also appear to induce the effect of increased flowering, because the post-fire increase in the availability of nutrients stimulates new growth (Wein and Bliss 1973). Experiments indicate that seeds sown in burned peat had twice the emergence than those in mineral soils (Innes 2014) ,and their wind-blown seeds can rapidly arrive on burned landscapes. Prescribed fire has traditionally been used in hare’s tail cottongrass in the UK to increase its abundance for sheep grazing (Hobbs 1984).
Timing of life history
Perennial species. Seeds likely produced from second growing season. Flowering is March to June.
Conservation status
None.
References
Hobbs, R. J. 1984. Length of burning rotation and community composition in high-level Calluna-Eriophorum bog in northern England. Vegetation 57): 129-136. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Innes, R.J. 2014. Eriophorum vaginatum. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/graminoid/erivag/all.html [Empirical evidence; Grey literature]
Racine, C.H. 1981. Tundra fire effects on soils and three plant communities along a hill-slope gradient in the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Arctic 34: 71-84. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Racine, C.H., Johnson, L.A., Viereck, L.A. 1987. Patterns of vegetation recovery after tundra fires in northwestern Alaska, U.S.A. Arctic and Alpine Research 19: 461-469. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Racine, C.H., Allen, J. L., Dennis, J.G. 2006. Long-term monitoring of vegetation change following tundra fires in Noatak National Preserve, Alaska. Report No. NPS/AKRARCN/NNTR-2006/02. Fairbanks, AK: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Alaska Region, Arctic Network Inventory and Monitoring Program. 37 p. [Empirical evidence; Grey literature]
Rawes, M., Hobbs, R. 1979. Management of semi-natural blanket bog in the northern Pennines. Journal of Ecology 67: 789-807. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Rowe, J. S. 1983. Concepts of fire effects on plant individuals and species. In: Wein, Ross W.; MacLean, David A., eds. The role of fire in northern circumpolar ecosystems. SCOPE 18. New York: John Wiley and Sons: 135-154. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Saperstein, L. 1996. Winter forage selection by barren-ground caribou: effects of fire and snow. In: Brown, Kent; Cichowski, Debbie; Edmonds, Janet; Seip, Dale; Stevenson, Susan; Thomas, Don; Wood, Mari, eds. Proceedings of 6th North American caribou workshop; 1994 March 1-4; Prince George, BC. In: Rangifer. Tromso, Norway: Nordic Council for Reindeer Research; 9(Special Issue): 237-238. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Wein, R.W. 1971. Fire and resources in the subarctic--panel discussion. In: Slaughter, C. W.; Barney, Richard J.; Hansen, G. M., eds. Fire in the northern environment--a symposium: Proceedings; 1971 April 13-14; Fairbanks, AK. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station: 251-253. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Wein, R.W., MacLean, D. A. 1973. Cotton grass (Eriophorum vaginatum) germination requirements and colonizing potential in the Arctic. Canadian Journal of Botany 51: 2509-2513. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Wein, R. W., Bliss, L. C. 1973. Changes in arctic Eriophorum tussock communities following fire. Ecology 54: 845-852. [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]