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Sierra Gooseberry

Ribes roezlii Regel

Broad-scale Impacts of Plant Response to Fire

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the terms: constancy, cover, density, duff, forest, frequency, fuel, fuel moisture, litter, prescribed burn, prescribed fire, severity, shrub, shrubs, succession, surface fire, tree

Wildfires:
Sierra gooseberry increased after wildfires in the following habitats:

Mixed conifer:
Talley and Griffin [75] studied the effects of the Marble-Cone Fire of 1977 at Junipero Serra Peak in
east-central California. After studying the fire scar record and sugar pine tree
boles, the Marble-Cone Fire was determined to be the most severe fire to
occur in the area in the past 300 years. In 1976, 13 study sites in sugar
pine/Coulter pine (Pinus coulteri)-canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis)
forest were analyzed. Plots were reexamined in 1978, 11 months following
the fire. Plots were separated into 2 topographic units: "summit" and
"slope" forests. The summit forest averaged 5,577 feet (1,700 m) elevation and
42% slope. The slope forest averaged 5,217 feet (1,590 m) and 57% slope. The
fire crowned through portions of the summit forest; however, none of the plots
were in areas where all aboveground vegetation was killed.
A severe surface fire swept through the upper summit forest, killing 85% of the
sugar pine and canyon live oak stems. In the slope forest, a surface fire killed half of the
sugar pine and 2/3rds of the canyon live oak. The heat generated by this fire decreased as it burned
deeper into the pine-oak stand. The prefire (1976) and postfire (1978)
constancy percent of Sierra gooseberry in the summit and slope forest
plots was as follows [75]:

  1976 (prefire) 1978 (postfire)
Constancy (%) Constancy (%)
Slope forest 0 20
Summit forest 0 40

Seedlings of Sierra gooseberry
were found in considerable abundance following a 1.5 acre (0.6 ha) fire of unknown severity
in an uncut forest at the Cow Creek Guard Station in the Stanislaus National
Forest, California, the fall of 1936. Several hundred seedlings appeared the
spring of 1937, 80 seedlings appeared in 1938, and 20 seedlings were counted in
1939. After 1939, no new seedlings were observed [64].

Mixed-conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada often
develop a dense shrub cover, including Sierra gooseberry, following disturbance such as logging or fire [11].

In Blue Canyon near Fresno, California, an accidental fire at a sawmill
burned 1 acre (0.4 ha) of pole-sized sugar pine, ponderosa pine,
white fir (Abies concolor), and incense-cedar (Calocedrus decurrens).
All vegetation was killed above the ground surface. The following spring, Quick
[61] counted 1,204 total Sierra gooseberry seedlings from 10 6.6 ft²
plots scattered over 1 acre (0.4 ha).

Prescribed burning:
Sierra gooseberry responded favorably to prescribed burning in the following habitats:

Mixed conifer:
Kauffman [36] studied the response of shrubs to prescribed burning at the Blodgett Forest Research Station, the
Challenge Experimental Forest, and the Plumas National Forest in the northern
Sierra Nevada of California. At each location, 6 blocks divided into 4 subplots
were established. Each subplot was assigned to 1 of 5 treatments including:
early fall-high consumption burning, late fall-moderate consumption burning, early
spring-moderate consumption burning, late spring-high consumption burning, and a
control. The following table presents the density and frequency of
Sierra gooseberry before burning in 1983 and 2 years following
burning, as well as the mean moisture content of the surface
litter, lower duff, and soil surface during the burn. Sierra gooseberry was abundant following fire at all 3
sites and most abundant on the late spring-high consumption burns [36]:

Blodgett site
Density (plants per acre)/Frequency (%)
Mean moisture content of litter/duff/soil at time of burning
  1983 1984 1985  
Early fall-high consumption burn 67/1 ----/---- 500/13 12.9/23.2/18.7
Late fall-moderate consumption burn 667/7 1,917/25 1,167/13 26.4/90.1/34.8
Early spring-moderate consumption burn 133/3 67/3 967/23 17.0/135.0/58.2
Late spring-high consumption burn 133/3 0/0 4,333/43 15.5/51.6/43.0
Control 200/4 67/3 67/3 ----


Challenge site
Density/Frequency
Mean moisture content of litter/duff/soil at time of burning
  1983 1984 1985  
Early fall-high consumption burn 100/3 10,033/68 2100/27 12.8/15.7/11.1
Late fall-moderate consumption burn 0/0 9,000/63 1033/21 16.0/43.4/22.3
Early spring-moderate consumption burn 0/0 33/1 933/25 17.9/119.5/44.1
Late spring-high consumption burn 0/0 0/0 3267/47 11.7/31.8/25.8
Control 0/0 0/0 0/0 ----


Plumas site
Density/Frequency
Mean moisture content of litter/duff/soil at time of burning
  1983 1984 1985  
Early fall-high consumption burn 0/0 333/11 167/4 10.8/8.7/3.6
Late fall-moderate consumption burn 0/0 33/1 0/0 18.3/63.0/11.3
Early spring-moderate consumption burn 33/1 233/3 300/8 11.1/35.0/20.3
Late spring-high consumption burn 0/0 0/0 2,067/5 12.4/18.7/11.0
Control 0/0 0/0 0/0 ----

For further information on this study, the Research Project Summary Plant response to prescribed burning with
varying season, weather, and fuel moisture in mixed-conifer forests of
California
provides information on prescribed fire treatments on the 3 sites and postfire responses
of many plant community species, including Sierra gooseberry.

Kilgore [41] studied the effects of prescribed burning in a giant sequoia-mixed conifer forest in the
Redwood Mountain Grove of Kings Canyon National Park,
California. The burn was conducted in November, 1970, adjacent to a 1969
prescribed burn,
in order to decrease litter accumulations and limit the
succession of understory species. The burn killed more than 87% of white fir and
sugar pine saplings and 38% of white fir, sugar pine, ponderosa pine and giant
sequoia trees 6 to 12 inches in diameter. The frequency of Sierra
gooseberry increased following the burn [41]:

Treatment
Burn plots
Control plots
Year 1969 1971 1969 1971
Frequency (%) 0.5 4.3 0.0 0.0

Harvey and others [29] also studied the effects of prescribed fire in a giant sequoia-mixed conifer
grove in the Redwood Mountain Grove. The understory composition of trees
included white fir and incense-cedar. Overstory trees included giant sequoia,
white fir, sugar pine, and ponderosa pine. The treatment in the North area
consisted of logs piled by bulldozer, burn piles, and "little" surface burning
in 1964 and again in 1965. In the South area, wood and brush were put into windrows by bulldozer,
windrows were burned, and "moderate" surface burning was done in 1966.
In both areas, Sierra gooseberry was lacking in
control areas and increased dramatically following fire, then gradually
decreased [29]:

Year 1964 1965 1966 1967 1969 1974
Abundance (total plants in study area) in North area (treated in 1964) 0 80 83 80 78 43
Abundance (total plants in study area) in South area (treated in 1966) ---- ---- 0 200 2000 150

White fir and sequoia:
In 1996, Roy and Vankat [68] resampled permanent plots 27 years after prescribed burning in
Sequoia National Park, California, to describe vegetational changes and
determine the effect of prescribed burning. The percent absolute cover of Sierra
gooseberry may have increased slightly following prescribed burning in the white fir
forest and giant sequoia groves [68]:

 
Absolute cover (%)
Year 1969 1996
White fir forest (n=14) 0 <0.5
Giant sequoia groves (n=11) 0 1
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bibliographic citation
Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Common Names

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Sierra gooseberry

Sierra Nevada gooseberry

chaparral gooseberry

Roezl's gooseberry

mountain gooseberry

Sierra goosecurrant
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bibliographic citation
Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Description

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More info for the term: shrub

This description provides characteristics that may be relevant to fire ecology, and is not meant for identification. Keys for identification are available (29,30,54,21,33).

Sierra gooseberry is a deciduous shrub [20,34,77]. Stems are prickly, long, and branching, with a height of 1.6 to 3.9 feet (0.5-1.2 m) [20,57]. Leaves are round and 0.6 to 1.4 inch (1.5-3.5 cm) long [20]. Flower sepals are reflexed, 0.3 to 0.4 inch (0.7-0.9 cm) long [30] and petals are 0.1 to 0.2 inches (.03-.05 cm) long [20,30,35,57]. Fruits are berries, 0.5 to 0.6 inch (1.4-1.6 cm) in diameter [20,30,57], that are covered with stout spines and gland-tipped bristles [20,30,35,57]. Seeds are subglobose [64]. Sierra gooseberry produces an average of 225,000 to 295,000 seeds per pound [64]. Root depth is a minimum of 16 inches (41 cm) [77].

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bibliographic citation
Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Distribution

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Sierra gooseberry is native to the United States. It occurs throughout California [20,21,57], and is limited to Washoe County in western Nevada [35,77] and Curry, Josephine, and Jackson counties in southwestern Oregon [77]. Ribes roezlii var. roezlii occurs in California [15,34], Nevada [30,34,77], and Oregon [30,77], R. roezlii var. amictum occurs in California [15,34,77], and R. roezlii var. cruentum occurs in California [15,34] and Oregon [30,34]. Plants Database provides a distributional map of Sierra gooseberry.
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Fire Ecology

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More info for the terms: adventitious, density, fire exclusion, fire regime, forest, fuel, litter, root crown, seed, shrubs, woodland

Fire adaptations: Sierra gooseberry is described as having "medium" resistance to fire [77]. It has a root crown bearing adventitious buds. A crown fragment attached to an undisturbed root can "quickly" regenerate a plant after a disturbance such as fire [20,64]. Some seedling establishment may occur from the seed bank [48,51,64]. Seeds may possibly be dispersed onto burned sites by animals [64].

FIRE REGIMES: Sierra gooseberry occurs in a variety of community types with a wide range of FIRE REGIMES. In the chaparral habitat of California, fires started by lightning and historically by Native Americans occurred for at least 100,000 years [33]. Native Americans set fires to make hunting easier; to facilitate the collection of seeds, berries, and bulbs; and to prepare feeding grounds for game [5,72]. Early settlers such as miners, loggers and sheep herders used fire "destructively," changing the landscape. Miners cut timber for fuel and mining props and used fire to remove slash [5,12]. Loggers did not practice sustained-yield forestry and cut most of the trees and burned the slash. This resulted in high-severity fires that killed the remaining trees and turned the areas into chaparral [71]. Sheep herders killed many trees to open forest stands and improve grazing conditions [12].

In oak woodland communities in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, wildfires were historically supplemented with burning by Native Americans to create deer browse and improve acorn production. Since the early 1900s, fire exclusion has greatly lengthened fire return intervals [5]. As a result, vegetation is often a continuous zone of decadent and low diversity brush and trees, and the density of vegetation, especially of interior live oak (Quercus wislizenii), has increased [79].

In mixed-conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada, frequent wildfires maintained open, parklike stands by the suppression of understory shrubs and saplings. Fire exclusion in this habitat has resulted in the rapid accumulation of litter and understory vegetation [79]. Wagener [80] reported a mean fire return interval of 7 to 10 years for the area from Plumas County to Fresno County. Kilgore [42] reported fire return intervals ranging from 2 to 25 years. Others report most fire return intervals were every 6 to 10 years [10,27,49,82], and some were as low as 2 to 4 years [46,78].

Fire return intervals in mixed-conifer forests of the Dinkey Creek Watershed in the Sierra National Forest, California, were studied by Phillips [60]. Stumps were examined for fire scars created from 1771 to 1994, with 1893 chosen as the end of the preEuro-American settlement period. Mean fire return intervals ranged from 3 to 5 years from 1771 to 1893, with maximum intervals of 6 to 12 years and minimum intervals of 1 to 2 years. Lightning-caused fires requiring suppression occurred every year from 1911 to 1965 compared to lightning-caused fires occurring every 9 years during a similar period 25 to 31 miles (40-50 km) south of Dinkey Creek [60].

In the bald hills Oregon oak woodlands of Redwood National Park, frequent fires suppressed the establishment of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) until postsettlement times, keeping the woodlands from converting into conifer forest. Native Americans burned the Bald Hills every 1 to 2 years [47], stimulating the growth of native woodland species and controlling Douglas-fir invasion [74] . Fire exclusion began in the 20th century, leading to the development of a closed conifer canopy and decreased plant diversity in some areas [74].

The following table provides fire return intervals for plant communities and ecosystems where Sierra gooseberry is important. Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under "Find FIRE REGIMES".

Community or ecosystem Dominant species Fire return interval range (years) California chaparral Adenostoma and/or Arctostaphylos spp. <35 to <100 California montane chaparral Ceanothus and/or Arctostaphylos spp. 50-100 [58] Jeffrey pine Pinus jeffreyi 5-30 Pacific ponderosa pine* Pinus ponderosa var. ponderosa 1-47 [3] coastal Douglas-fir* Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii 40-240 [3,55,67] California mixed evergreen Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii-Lithocarpus densiflorus-Arbutus menziesii <35 California oakwoods Quercus spp. <35 canyon live oak Quercus chrysolepis <35 to 200 Oregon white oak Quercus garryana <35 [3] California black oak Quercus kelloggii 5-30 [58] *fire return interval varies widely; trends in variation are noted in the species review
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Fire Management Considerations

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More info for the terms: density, fuel, habitat type, prescribed fire, seed, severity

The response of Sierra gooseberry to prescribed fire depends on the habitat type, fuel load, and severity of the burn. Sierra gooseberry responds favorably to prescribed burning due to increased light and nutrients. Its density increases following high and low-consumption prescribed burning conducted in the spring and fall. Sierra gooseberry may attain its greatest abundance approximately 2 to 5 years following burning when seed crops are produced; then its abundance decreases with time.
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Growth Form (according to Raunkiær Life-form classification)

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More info for the term: phanerophyte

RAUNKIAER [65] LIFE FORM:
Phanerophyte
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Habitat characteristics

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More info for the term: forest

Sierra gooseberry is found growing on dry, open forest slopes [20,35,57] and rock outcrops in Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) woodlands [74]. Sierra gooseberry attains its greatest abundance on severely disturbed sites following logging [7,26,51,62,63,64] and fire [11,13,28,29,36,41,83].

Elevation: Elevational ranges by state are shown below:

California 3,500-8,500 feet (1,100-2,600 m) [20,57] Nevada 5,000-8,000 feet (1,500-2,400 m) [35]

Soil: Sierra gooseberry is adapted to coarse and medium-textured soils with a pH ranging from 6.0 to 7.5 [77].

Climate: Sierra gooseberry is a drought-resistant species [8,20,77]. It grows primarily in mediterranean climates, characterized by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters [13,19,74]. It can withstand a minimum temperature of -28 °F (-33 °C) [77]. Mean annual precipitation throughout Sierra gooseberry's range is 18 to 90 inches (46-229 cm) [1,2,14,19,28,29,38,40,63,74].

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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Habitat: Cover Types

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

More info for the term: cover

SAF COVER TYPES [22]:




207 Red fir

211 White fir

229 Pacific Douglas-fir

233 Oregon white oak

237 Interior ponderosa pine

243 Sierra Nevada mixed conifer

244 Pacific ponderosa pine-Douglas-fir

245 Pacific ponderosa pine

246 California black oak

247 Jeffrey pine

249 Canyon live oak
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Habitat: Ecosystem

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

ECOSYSTEMS [24]:




FRES20 Douglas-fir

FRES21 Ponderosa pine

FRES23 Fir-spruce

FRES28 Western hardwoods

FRES34 Chaparral-mountain shrub
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Habitat: Plant Associations

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the terms: forest, shrub

KUCHLER [44] PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:




K005 Mixed conifer forest

K007 Red fir forest

K010 Ponderosa shrub forest

K011 Western ponderosa forest

K012 Douglas-fir forest

K026 Oregon oakwoods

K029 California mixed evergreen forest

K030 California oakwoods

K033 Chaparral

K034 Montane chaparral
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Habitat: Rangeland Cover Types

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This species is known to occur in association with the following Rangeland Cover Types (as classified by the Society for Range Management, SRM):

More info for the terms: cover, shrubland

SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES [70]:




109 Ponderosa pine shrubland

207 Scrub oak mixed chaparral

208 Ceanothus mixed chaparral

209 Montane shrubland
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Immediate Effect of Fire

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Sierra gooseberry is top-killed by fire [20].
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Importance to Livestock and Wildlife

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More info for the term: cover

Cattle, horses, domestic sheep, and domestic goats eat Sierra gooseberry browse [69]. Sierra gooseberry is an important browse plant for mule deer [20,46,69] and bighorn sheep [20]. The fruits are eaten by small mammals and birds [20] and are an important food for fox sparrows in northwestern California [26].

Palatability/nutritional value: The overall browse value of Sierra gooseberry for livestock and deer is as follows [69]:

Cattle Horses Domestic sheep Domestic goats Mule deer poor poor to useless fair fair fair to useless

Cover value: No information is available on this topic.

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bibliographic citation
Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Key Plant Community Associations

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Sierra gooseberry is listed as dominant in the following vegetation classifications:



California: Sierra gooseberry-varileaf phacelia (Phacelia heterophylla)
vegetation type in rock outcrops of the bald hills Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana)
woodlands of Redwood National Park [74].
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Life Form

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More info for the term: shrub

Shrub
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Management considerations

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More info for the terms: cover, density, forbs, forest, frequency, seed, shrub, succession, surface fire, tree, wildfire

Silviculture:
Sierra gooseberry may interfere with conifer establishment
following logging. Vigorous Sierra gooseberry growth may occur for 25 to 30 years following clearcuts and only 3
to 10 years following a "light" cut. Seeds may be left near
the surface of soil following logging or may be buried more deeply than before
logging, causing a high amount of germination [64].

Sierra gooseberry
responds favorably to logging in the following habitats:



Red fir:
Barbour and others [6]
sampled 113 clearcuts in 5 National Forests
along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada to determine site factors that
predict successful shrub regeneration in red fir communities. The stands were 4 to 32
years old and Sierra gooseberry was one of 3 shrub species contributing greatest
average cover [6].

Mixed conifer: The effects of forest
management on vascular plant diversity in a mixed-conifer forest were studied by
Battles and others [7]. The study took place in the Blodgett Forest Research
Station in the Sierra Nevada. The mixed-conifer forest consisted of white fir,
Douglas-fir, sugar pine, Pacific ponderosa pine, incense-cedar, and California
black oak. The management regimes included
plantation, shelterwood, single-tree, and reserve cuts. Sierra gooseberry was
common in 3 of the 4 management regimes (measured in 1997) with the highest
percent cover in the single-tree cut [7]:

Treatment Canopy closure (%) Cover (%) Management history
Plantation (n=4) 73 2.1 Clearcut 1969, 1975
Shelterwood (n=2) 54 1.7 Initial harvest , 1979
Single-tree (n=2) 81 2.2 Last entered 1993
Reserve (n=6) 87 ---- No active management

McDonald [51] conducted a 5-year study on species composition and succession
following a clearcut in the Challenge Experimental Forest of north central
California. In 1975, 8 acres (3.2 ha) of mixed-conifer forest were clearcut.
Ponderosa pine was the dominant species, and other trees included coast
Douglas-fir, sugar pine, California white fir, and incense-cedar. Sierra
gooseberry quickly invaded the area from buried seed [51].

Habitat changes following
cutting, piling, and burning were examined in Whitaker's Forest in Tulare
County, California by Kilgore [40]. Two 20-acre (8.1 ha) plots were
established and treatments consisted of: (1) cutting, piling and burning white
fir and incense-cedar between heights of 1 to 11 feet (12-132 in); (2) cutting dead
standing trees and (3) piling and burning the accumulation of downed trees and
limbs, which constituted a wildfire hazard. The frequency of Sierra
gooseberry increased following the treatments [40]:

 
Before treatment After treatment
Frequency (%) Control plots 3.9 4.6
Treated plots 3.3 14.2

Douglas-fir:
The effect of wildfires, with and
without salvage logging, on adjacent intact forest patches was studied by Hanson
and Stuart [28] in the Klamath National Forest, Oregon. Three salvaged sites,
3 unsalvaged sites, and 3 old-growth sites were studied. The salvaged and unsalvaged
sites burned in 1987 as a low-intensity surface fire, bordered by high-severity
patches, consuming canopies and undergrowth. Low-intensity broadcast burns were
conducted in 1988. At each unsalvaged and salvaged site, transects
were established perpendicular to burned edges. Transects were laid out from the
unsalvaged stands into the forest interior and from salvaged stands into the
forest interior to determine the depth of edge influence (DEI).
The following table represents the mean percent cover that
occurred in >50% of the plots of each community type and the frequency of Sierra
gooseberry [28]:

Old-growth communities
Burn-influenced communities
  Old-growth Unsalvaged interior Salvaged interior Unsalvaged edge Salvaged edge Unsalvaged Salvaged
Mean cover (%) 0 0 0 0.3 0.4 1.0 0.2
Frequency (%) 0 0 0 60 55 83 54

Sierra gooseberry showed an equal DEI for the
salvaged and unsalvaged sites, growing at 98 feet (30
m) from the edge of both sites [28].

Ponderosa pine: The interrelationships
of logging, birds, and timber regeneration in the Six Rivers National Forest in
northwestern California were studied by Hagar [26]. The density of Sierra
gooseberry was higher on the clearcut sites compared to the virgin forest sites [26]:

  2 years following clearcutting 3 years following clearcutting 5 years following clearcutting Virgin Douglas-fir forest Virgin mixed-conifer forest
Plants/acre 1 23 66 ---- 18

Disease:
Sierra gooseberry is an alternate host for
the white pine blister rust fungus (Cronartium
ribicola) [8,43,64]. Life cycle of white pine blister rust
is complex. Gitzendanner and others [25]
and McDonald and Hoff [50]
provide details of the rust's life history and ecology. Hoff [32]
provides a diagnostic guide to aid managers in recognizing symptoms of blister
rust infection in white pines.

There are no known methods of controlling blister rust
[37]. Fungicide application, pruning infected tree branches, and/or removing Ribes
spp. have neither eliminated nor controlled white pine blister rust [16,50],
and such treatments have undesirable ecological effects [37].

Downy mildew and leaf anthracnose are common diseases of Sierra gooseberry,
causing leaves and fruits to drop prematurely [64].



Herbicide:
The application of 2,4-D kills Sierra gooseberry [64].

Browsing:
Cattle have been used to control vegetation such as Sierra
gooseberry following timber harvest. The time and intensity
of grazing, soil type, degree of vegetational development, and topography need
to be evaluated before grazing can be successfully accomplished [1,39,64].

Kie and Boroski [39] examined the factors influencing cattle distribution and their
effectiveness in controlling vegetation in mixed-conifer forests
at the Blodgett Research Station in the Sierra Nevada of California.
Cattle favored foraging in riparian areas in June, July, and August due to the
proximity of water and an abundance of forbs. In September, they favored
foraging in upland mixed-conifer forests where Sierra gooseberry grew. Using
cattle to control shrub growth following timber harvest was effective if the cattle were
distributed away from riparian areas and into clearcuts
where Sierra gooseberry was abundant. The percentage of Sierra gooseberry in cattle fecal fragments in
upland mixed-conifer forest is shown below [39]:

 
June July Aug. Sept.
% in cattle diet in 1986 5.1 24.0 7.9 11.3
% in cattle diet in 1987 11.4 6.1 0.0 50.8

Allen and Bartolome [1] studied the effects of cattle browsing on understory
cover and tree growth. Two mixed-conifer clearcuts were established
at the Blodgett Research Station. Sierra gooseberry was one of
the most common species on both clearcuts. Total shrub canopy cover was
reduced by cattle browsing on both sites. On 1 of the sites, browsed plots had a
shrub canopy cover of 31% and unbrowsed plots had 75% canopy cover. Cattle
grazing effectively reduced shrub cover with advanced planning and
coordination [1].

Other:
Sierra gooseberry is a
host plant for ovipositing moths of the Great
Basin tent caterpillar (Malacosoma fragilis) [17].

Considerable defoliation of Sierra gooseberry by wandering zephyr (Polygonia
zephyrus) and tailed copper butterfly (Tharsalea arota) caterpillars was observed near the Cow Creek Guard
Station in the Stanislaus National Forest, California [64].

Rodents destroyed most Sierra gooseberry seeds in a small burned area in a
mature forest at the Cow Creek Guard Station. The burn occurred in 1936, and large numbers of Sierra
gooseberry seedlings established by 1939. In 1941, fruits were produced. The
number of fruits decreased from 1,206 in May to 25 fruits by August, probably due
to browsing by rodents [64].

The density of Sierra gooseberry increased following the removal of understory
trees in a giant sequoia/mixed-conifer forest in California, creating more
forage for mule deer [46].
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Other uses and values

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The fruits of Sierra gooseberry can be eaten raw or dried [20,77]. The Kawaiisu Indians of southern California made jelly from the berries [84].
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Phenology

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Sierra gooseberry flowers from April to June in southern California [20,56,57] and from May to June in Nevada [35].
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Plant Response to Fire

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Postfire response of Sierra gooseberry is related to the severity and intensity of the fire. Sierra gooseberry sprouts from the root crown following fire [20], and fire stimulates germination of seeds [11,13,28,29,36,41,83]. Sierra gooseberry seedlings tend to appear the 1st spring following a fire [64]. According to Quick [64], growth is slow following low-severity, creeping fires, probably because Sierra gooseberry seedlings are not killed and must compete with unburned small plants and trees for water, sunlight, and nutrients; however, more studies are needed on the response of Sierra gooseberry to low-severity fires. Following severe burns, where all aerial plant parts and duff are consumed, growth of Sierra gooseberry is optimum due to enriched soil [64]. Sierra gooseberry sprouts flowering 15 months after the 2013 Rim Wildfire on the Stanislaus National Forest.
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Post-fire Regeneration

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More info for the terms: adventitious, crown residual colonizer, secondary colonizer, seed, shrub

POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY [73]:
Small shrub, adventitious bud/root crown
Crown residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
Secondary colonizer (on-site or off-site seed sources)
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Regeneration Processes

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More info for the terms: association, bisexual, duff, forest, fruit, layering, natural, root crown, seed, stratification

Sierra gooseberry regenerates vegetatively and from seed [36,64,81].

Pollination: The flowers of Sierra gooseberry are wind pollinated [64].

Breeding system: Sierra gooseberry flowers are bisexual [66].

Seed production: Seed crops are produced when Sierra gooseberry plants are 2 to 5 years old [8,64].

Seed dispersal: Sierra gooseberry seeds are spread by animals including American black bears, rodents, and probably birds, mule deer, and cattle. Seeds are also spread by water, especially during spring runoff, and gravity [64].

Seed banking: Seeds of Ribes remain viable in the soil for long periods of time [48,51]. No studies have been conducted on the natural seed bank of Sierra gooseberry; however, seeds were found viable after 40 years of storage in milk bottles buried 20 inches (50 cm) below the forest floor in Tuolumne County, California. After the bottles were removed, 3 germination tests of 100 seeds each were conducted using 2 cycles of stratification-germination temperatures. Average seedling production per culture of 100 seeds was 7.3 seedlings [62].

In studies by Quick [64], Sierra gooseberry seed viability was as follows [64]:

Seed storage conditions for air-dried seed at 36 ºF (2 ºC) Duration (years) Viability at end of period (%) 7 85 12 45

Germination: Germination of Sierra gooseberry is stimulated by disturbances such as fire [11,13,28,29,36,41,83] and logging [13,62,63,64].

Sierra gooseberry requires stratification at 36 °F (2 °C) for 14 to 16 weeks or at 32 Â°F (0 °C) for 18 to 20 weeks [64]. Germination rates of 200 Sierra gooseberry seeds were tested in a greenhouse following stratification at 32º F for 100 to 150 days. Germination rates were 80% with a germination capacity of 87% [59].

Seedling establishment/growth: The survival and growth of Sierra gooseberry depend on the successional development of associated vegetation and the time elapsed following logging or other disturbances [64].

Although the seedling establishment of Sierra gooseberry is favored by disturbed soil, the best seed bed for Ribes may be mineral soil with humus [59].

Sierra gooseberry is apparently favored by nitrogen-enriched soils, and survival and growth of seedlings may be favored by an association with whitethorn ceanothus (Ceanothus cordulatus) and other Ceanothus species. Whitethorn ceanothus bears nitrogen-fixing bacteria in root nodules, enabling Sierra gooseberry seedlings to thrive. In addition, whitethorn ceanothus bears spines forest-browsing cattle avoid. This increases the layer of duff beneath the plant, favoring growth of Sierra gooseberry seedlings [63].

Two years following logging on Chowchilla Mountain in central California, live stem length and fruit production of Sierra gooseberry were examined on bushes growing from root crown sprouts, layers, and seed with the following results:

Type of Sierra gooseberry bushes Live stem length (ft) Fruits/foot Bushes growing from resprouting crowns 8.9 4.5 Bushes growing from layers 11.8 7.2 Bushes growing from seed 19.7 0

The fox sparrow and green-tailed towhee, 2 ground-dwelling birds, favor the growth of Sierra gooseberry by creating small disturbances on the forest floor when foraging, enabling seedlings to establish [64].

Asexual regeneration: Sierra gooseberry regenerates by layering and sprouting from the root crowns [64].

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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Regional Distribution in the Western United States

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS [9]:




1 Northern Pacific Border

3 Southern Pacific Border

4 Sierra Mountains

6 Upper Basin and Range
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

States or Provinces

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(key to state/province abbreviations)
UNITED STATES CA NV OR
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Successional Status

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More info for the terms: competition, cover, density, forest, shrubs, succession

Sierra gooseberry is common on disturbed sites [8,20,77]. It tolerates open to partially closed canopies [64,77]. Sierra gooseberry is a pioneer species, growing in primary-succession forests but most abundantly in secondary-succession forests. The passage of time following a disturbance decreases the density of Sierra gooseberry [64], probably due to decreased soil moisture and nutrients [18,64].

Sierra gooseberry is a pioneer species in the succession of mixed-conifer forests dominated by sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) in the Sierra Nevada and eventually is suppressed by coniferous reproduction due to competition for soil moisture and nutrients [63,64].

In California, Sierra gooseberry occurs in secondary-succession montane chaparral [13].

Sierra gooseberry was found scattered throughout a 2nd-growth sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum)-mixed-conifer forest in Whitaker's Forest in Tulare County, California [11].

Conard and Radosevich [18] studied postfire succession in white fir (Abies concolor) habitat of the northern Sierra Nevada, California. The percent cover of Sierra gooseberry was greatest on the youngest postfire site (a 10-year-old crown fire), dominated by montane chaparral. Increased light penetration to the forest floor allowed the development of shrubs such as Sierra gooseberry [18].

The percent cover of Sierra gooseberry following clearcutting in a red fir (Abies magnifica) forest in the Sierra Nevada was as follows [23]:

4- to 10-year-old sites 11- to 25-year-old sites 25- to 32-year-old sites 1.7% 0.7% 4.5%
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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Taxonomy

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The currently accepted scientific name for Sierra gooseberry is Ribes roezlii
Regel (Grossulariaceae) [20,21,30,35,57,77].

There are 3 recognized varieties:


R. roezlii var. roezlii Regel [30,34]

R. roezlii var. amictum (Greene) Jepson [30,34]

R. roezlii var. cruentum [30,34]


Sierra gooseberry does not
regularly hybridize; however, Mesler and others [53] report putative hybrids
between gummy gooseberry (R. lobbii)
and R. roezlii var. cruentum in
the Klamath Mountains of northern California and southern Oregon.

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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Value for rehabilitation of disturbed sites

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More info for the terms: density, seed

Sierra gooseberry does not form terminal buds and has indeterminate growth. Growth is vigorous until lack of space, soil moisture, or low temperatures slow or terminate growth. Sierra gooseberry probably resumes vigorous growth when conditions improve [64].

Stem cuttings can be rooted easily; however, root cuttings fail to produce plants [64]. Pfister [59] provides information on propagation of Sierra gooseberry and other Ribes from seed and cuttings. The minimum planting density of Sierra gooseberry is 700 plants/acre, and the maximum is 1,700 plants/acre [77].

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Ulev, Elena 2006. Ribes roezlii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html

Ribes roezlii

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Ribes roezlii is a North American species of currant known by the common name Sierra gooseberry.[2]

Distribution

Ribes roezlii is native to many of the mountain ranges of California, its distribution extending east into Nevada and north into Oregon. Its habitat includes chaparral, woodlands, and forested areas.[3][4]

Ribes roezlii: spiny fruits.

Description

Ribes roezlii is a spiny shrub growing erect to a maximum height around 1.2 metres (3.9 ft). The hairless to hairy or woolly leaves are up to 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) long and divided into 3 or 5 rounded, toothed lobes.[3][5][6]

The inflorescence is a solitary flower or raceme of 2 or 3 small wind-pollinated[7] flowers hanging pendent from the branches. Each flower has five reflexed red-purple sepals around a tube-shaped ring of smaller white or pinkish petals, the stamens and stigmas protruding.[3][5][6][8]

The fruit is a red or purple berry up to 2.5 centimeters long which is covered in thick, long spines. Among other currants and gooseberries with overlapping ranges, such as mountain gooseberry (Ribes montigenum) or wax currant (Ribes cereum), the sierra gooseberry is especially notable for the large size and extreme spininess of its berries,[9] and for the absence of a noticeable dried flower remnant at the end of the fruit.[5][6]

Seeds are dispersed by running water and by animals that eat the fruits, such as American black bears.[7] The foliage is an important food source for mule deer and bighorn sheep, and the fruits are a common food for fox sparrows living in its range.[7][5][6] The berries can be eaten by humans in an emergency, but are unpalatable.[10]

References

  1. ^ Tropicos, Ribes roezlii Regel
  2. ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Ribes roezlii". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Calflora taxon report, University of California: Ribes roezlii . accessed 1.30.2013
  4. ^ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  5. ^ a b c d Flora of North America, Ribes roezlii
  6. ^ a b c d Regel, Eduard August von 1879. Gartenflora 28(8): 226–227 description in Latin, commentary and figure captions in German
  7. ^ a b c US Forest Service Fire Ecology
  8. ^ Regel, Eduard August von 1879. Gartenflora 28(8): plate 982 color illustration of Ribes roezlii (red-flowered plant at left)
  9. ^ Norman F. Weeden (1996), A Sierra Nevada Flora (4th ed.), Wilderness Press
  10. ^ Whitney, Stephen (1985). Western Forests (The Audubon Society Nature Guides). New York: Knopf. p. 421. ISBN 0-394-73127-1.

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Ribes roezlii: Brief Summary

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Ribes roezlii is a North American species of currant known by the common name Sierra gooseberry.

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