Species Brief Template: Plants

Biological characteristics

Life form

• Graminoid
• Forb
• Vine
• Subshrub
• Shrub
• Tree
• Cactus
• Fern
• Bryophyte

Typical lifespan

• 0-1 year
• 2-5 years
• 6-10 years
• 11-20 years
• 21-50 years
• 51-100 years
• 101-200 years
• 201+ years
• Insufficient information

Life cycle

• Annual
• Biennial
• Perennial
• Insufficient information

Drought tolerance

• High
• Moderate
• Low
• Very low
• Insufficient information

Rooting depth

• Shallow
• Medium
• Deep
• Varies
• Insufficient information

Bark thickness at maturity

• Thick
• Thin
• N/A
• Insufficient information

Sheds low branches

• Often
• Sometimes
• Rarely/No
• N/A
• Insufficient information

Reproduction and Regeneration

Adventitious buds

• Bulb
• Caudex
• Corm
• Epicormic
• Lignotuber
• Rhizomes
• Root crown
• Root sprouts
• Sobol
• Stolon
• Tiller
• Tuber
• Yes, unspecified
• None
• Insufficient information

If the source describes the species as layering, select Yes, unspecified.

Time to reproductive maturity

• 0-1 year
• 2-5 years
• 6-10 years
• 11-20 years
• 21-50 years
• 51+ years
• Insufficient information

Soil seed bank longevity

• Transient (<1 year)
• Short-term persistent (1-5 years)
• Long-term persistent (>5 years)
• Insufficient information

Month(s) when seeds typically ripen

Serotinous cones

• Yes
• No
• N/A
• Insufficient information

Seed dispersal mechanism

• Animal
• Gravity
• Water
• Wind
• Insufficient information

Seed dispersal distance

Optimal conditions for seedling establishment

• Bare soil
• Litter and/or duff
• Shade
• Sun
• Nurse plant/object
• Insufficient information

Successional Status

Shade tolerance

• Shade tolerant
• Moderately shade tolerant
• Shade intolerant
• Insufficient information

Definitions: Shade tolerant — Survives and grows in low light conditions. Moderately shade tolerant — Survival and growth in low light conditions depends on associates or other site characteristics. Shade intolerant —Cannot survive or growth suffers in low light conditions.

Successional status

• Early
• Mid
• Late
• Insufficient information

Definitions: Early — establishes and persists in early successional stages; Mid — persists in middle successional stages; Late — persists in late successional stages. Note that a species may establish in an earlier stage than it persists in; the response captures persistence stages.

Fire

Primary fire response(s) or adaptation(s)

• Fire Sensitive
• Recover/Resprout
• Recruit
• Resist
• Insufficient information

Definitions: Resist — above-ground parts survive the fire (thick insulating bark, protected buds, self-pruning lower branches → survives low-to-moderate intensity surface fires). Recover/Resprout — top-killed or damaged plants sprout new growth from protected energy reserves (root crowns, rhizomes, bulbs, epicormic buds). Recruit — regenerates via seed soon after fire; fire stimulates germination or creates conditions (bare mineral soil, light) for establishment. Seeds widely dispersed (invader) or long-lived in soil/canopy (evader). Fire Sensitive — relatively high probability of injury/death by fire; typically killed with limited postfire recruitment. Often late-successional species that slowly reinvade and have essentially no fire adaptations.

Germination is fire stimulated

Fire-stimulated germination: plant seeds that remain dormant in soil or litter until specific cues produced by fire — heat, smoke, or char — break the seed's physical or chemical dormancy and trigger germination (e.g. heat cracks or melts the seed coat so the seed can imbibe and germinate). This is interpreted narrowly: a dormancy-breaking fire cue. Post-fire seedling flushes caused by opened canopy, bare mineral seedbed, or reduced competition are not fire-stimulated germination — but this is noted in the justification.

• Often
• Sometimes
• Rarely/No
• Insufficient information

Flowering/fruiting is fire stimulated

Fire-stimulated flowering: plants flower more profusely, synchronously, or exclusively after fire.

• Often
• Sometimes
• Rarely/No
• Insufficient information

Season when it is most sensitive to fire

• Spring
• Summer
• Fall
• Winter
• Fire sensitivity does not vary by season
• Insufficient Information

Plant flammability

• Low
• Medium
• High
• Insufficient information

Early colonizer/recolonizer of burned or disturbed sites

• Frequently
• Sometimes
• Rarely/No
• Insufficient information

Effect of fire exclusion on population

• Increase
• Possible increase
• Decrease
• Possible decrease
• Varies throughout habitat or range
• No Change
• Insufficient information
• N/A

Is this species typically managed with prescribed fire?

• Often
• Sometimes
• Rarely/No
• Insufficient information

Predominant historical fire frequencies of ecosystem where it most commonly occurs

• Frequent
• Mid-frequency
• Infrequent
• N/A
• Insufficient information

Definitions: Frequent (0-35 years); Mid-frequency (35-200 years); Infrequent (200+ years). Multi-select when the species occurs across multiple ecosystem types with different fire return intervals.

Predominant historical fire severity where it most commonly occurs

• Low
• Mixed
• Replacement
• N/A
• Insufficient information

Definitions: Low (<26% canopy replacement); Mixed (26-75%); Replacement (>75%). Multi-select when the species occurs across multiple ecosystem types with different fire severity regimes.

Predominant historical fire regime group where it most commonly occurs

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• N/A
• Insufficient information

Definitions: 1 — frequency 0-35 years, severity low/mixed; 2 — frequency 0-35 years, severity replacement; 3 — frequency 35-200 years, severity low/mixed; 4 — frequency 35-200 years, severity replacement; 5 — frequency 200+ years, severity replacement/any. Multi-select allowed when the species spans ecosystems in different groups.

Alters historical fuel characteristics of ecosystems where it occurs

• Yes, invasive species
• Yes, native occurring outside of historical range/density
• Yes, other
• Rarely/No
• Insufficient information

Examples of "Yes": invasive species that increases fuel load or fuel connectivity; native species that alters litter/understory flammability; native species occurring at higher density than historically.