Effects of Fire on Threatened and Endangered Species

Fire has varied effects on threatened and endangered species. While habitat for some of these species may be eliminated by prescribed burning, other threatened and endangered species require fire for establishment and survival. For example, mountain golden heather, turkeysbeard, sandmyrtle, and twisted-head spike-moss grow in the southern Appalachians on ledge habitats created and kept open by natural fires and severe weather (Morse 1988). Table Mountain pine, although not currently threatened or endangered, is being replaced by more shade-tolerant hardwoods in the Appalachians because of the exclusion of fire. The serotinous cones of Table Mountain pine release seeds after they have been heated by fire. Hence, this species regenerates only after intense fires. The endangered red-cockaded woodpecker inhabits fire-maintained longleaf pine woodlands extending into the mountains of northern Alabama and Georgia. Although the subject is debated, some researchers feel that the grassy balds on the summits of high Appalachian peaks may have been created and maintained by fire (Clements 1936). Van Lear and Waldrop (1988) warn that threatened and endangered species must be given special consideration when planning prescribed burns.