Resilience is when an individual can be beaten down but still
rise again; in this case plants that can be burnt down and still “rise from the
ashes”, like a phoenix. Resistance is when an individual can withstand harmful
things that come their way; again, in this case it’s fire. Being native plants to fire-prone areas, they've spent a long time evolving to be suited for the environment.
I think it’s
important for people managing the forests and other fire-prone areas to keep
these terms in mind, as well as the adaptions plants have to be describes ad
resilient or resistant to fire.
An example of resilience is that some plants have the ability
of below ground resprouting. This means that even if the plant is burned at the
surface, if the fire isn’t too intense, the roots in the dirt would be shielded
from harm and the plant can begin to regrow from those points that haven’t been
damaged.
An example of resistance is the ponderosa pine, with thick
insulating bark and self-pruning. The bark is thick enough to shield the tree
from being exposed to too much heat. The self-pruning is when the tree “drops”
its lower branches so when the underbrush and duff are burning, the fire most
likely won’t get tall enough to catch the branches. This eliminates the “ladder
fuel” meaning that the fire won’t have the opportunity to become a crown fire
by burning up the tree.
Kennie,
ReplyDeleteYour first paragraph was an amazing way to describe resilience and resistance. I also think this is an important factor that land managers need to pay attention to. Understanding how resilient and resistant a plant community is can be useful for determining what the post-fire environment will look like. Factors such as, which plants will be established after the disturbance and how long the plant community's return interval is are issues that managers should be knowledgeable about in order to make the right decisions.