Using Prescribed Fire to Perpetuate Fire-dependent Species

Many threatened, endangered, or sensitive plants are understory or midstory plants of fire-dominated communities and require fire to become established and survive. For example, mountain golden heather (Hudsonia montana), turkeysbeard (Xerophyllum asphodeloides), sandmyrtle (Leiophyllum buxifolium), and twisted-head spike-moss (Selaginella tortipila) grow in the Appalachians on ledge habitats created and kept open by natural fires and severe weather. Many picturesque flowers, including several orchids, currently listed as threatened or endangered benefit by fire. Many endemics in Florida scrub are only found the first 1 to 2 years after a fire. Burning also enhances habitat preferences of several endangered animal species, including the Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi), gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus), indigo snake (Drymarchon corais), and red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis).

Pitcher Plants

Changes in the "natural" fire pattern as a result of attempted fire exclusion have led to dramatic decreases in many of these fire-tolerant or fire-dependent species. Prescribed fire can be used to restore or perpetuate these fire-dependent species. Prescribed burning, however, does not necessarily help perpetuate these species if fires do not create historical conditions. The individual fire ecology of a species, and the fire regime of the communities where it is found, must therefore be understood before a fire can be prescribed to benefit that species.

For information on the fire ecology of individual species in the southeastern U.S., please refer to the following tables which provide links to the Fire Effects Information System (FEIS):

For information of the fire regimes of common southeastern community types, see Fire Ecology.