The effect of fire severity level on postfire recovery of hazel and raspberry in east-central Alberta

Abstract

A study of the effects of fire on the regrowth of beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta Marsh.) and wild red raspberry (Rubus strigosus Michx.) was carried out in Elk Island National Park, Alberta. Shrubs growing under an aspen stand were subjected to five levels of fire severity by artificially adjusting the fuel load on small plots within a larger prescribed fire. Effects studied included mortality, number of stem sprouts, height growth of sprouts, and number of leaves per sprout, all during the first growing season, and biomass after the second season. Generally, fire killed the shrub stems at all severity levels. Variation in fire severity had little significant effect on regrowth, except that lower levels seemed to favor higher numbers of hazel sprouts and increased raspberry height growth.