Fire Birch

gray birch
grey birch
white birch
wire birch
fire birch
oldfield birch

In Maryland gray birch is known from only three or four contiguous
stations or populations within the boundaries of the state. In Delaware
gray birch is listed as being extinct [3,33].

More info for the term: cover

In Maine, gray birch provides hiding cover for the bobcat and hare [23].

More info for the term: tree

Gray birch is a fast-growing, short-lived, deciduous tree commonly
attaining heights of 20 to 30 feet (6-9 m) [5].  Its short, slender,
contorted branches form a narrow pyramidal crown.  The alternate leaves
occur singly or in pairs on thin, gray twigs.  The leaves are long and
pointed with double-toothed margins.  The male flowers are borne on
yellow catkins hanging from the twigs.  The female catkins are erect on
the stems which develop into drooping, stalked cones with many small
nutlike winged seeds.  The trunk is dark, rough, and irregularly broken
by shallow fissures.  The roots are shallow [6,7,9,17].

The range of gray birch extends west from Nova Scotia to southern
Ontario, and south to New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.  Disjunct
populations occur in northern Ohio, Virginia, and western North Carolina
[6,9,22,33].

More info for the terms: fire regime, root crown, seed, tree

Fire, which can help establish gray birch, can also be quite damaging.
The thin bark of gray birch is very flammable, so the tree is easily
injured by fire [4,31].  Starker [32] lists gray birch as low in
resistance to fire, ranking it 17th out of 22 fire-resistant hardwoods
in the northeastern United States.  Gray birch is able sprout from the
root crown after aboveground portions are killed by fire [13].

Gray birch's abundant wind-dispersed seed is important in colonizing
burns.  Also, gray birch is likely to accumulate abundant seed in the
soil.  Seedling establishment following fire is probable from such seed
banks.

FIRE REGIMES :
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".

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More info for the term: phanerophyte

  
   Phanerophyte

More info for the term: tree

Gray birch is found on a wide variety of sites.  It grows best on moist,
well-drained soil along streams, ponds, lakes, and swamps but also grows
on dry sandy or gravelly soil.  Gray birch grows on inorganic soils of
rocky slopes and hillsides, but its growth is usually retarded on these
sites [6,8,17].

Common tree associates of gray birch are blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica),
black oak (Quercus velutina), red oak (Q. borealis), eastern hophornbeam
(Ostrya virginiana), American holly (Ilex opaca), black cherry (Prunus
serotina), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), and aspen (Populus
tremuloides).  Common understory associates include hobblebush (Viburnum
alnifolium), blueberry (Vaccinium spp.), witch hazel (Hamamelis
virginiana), bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica), and Canada serviceberry
(Amelanchier canadensis) [22,27,29,36].

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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):

     5  Balsam fir
    19  Gray birch - red maple
    21  Eastern white pine
    22  White pine - hemlock
    25  Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
    32  Red spruce
    33  Red spruce - balsam fir
    35  Paper birch - red spruce - balsam fir
    39  Black ash - American elm - red maple
    45  Pitch pine
    46  Eastern redcedar
    97  Atlantic white-cedar

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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):

   FRES10  White - red - jack pine
   FRES13  Loblolly - shortleaf pine
   FRES14  Oak - pine
   FRES16  Oak - gum - cypress
   FRES17  Elm - ash - cottonwood
   FRES18  Maple - beech - birch
   FRES19  Aspen - Birch

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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 term: forest

   K095  Great Lakes pine forest
   K096  Northeastern spruce - fir forest
   K101  Elm - ash forest
   K102  Beech - maple forest
   K104  Appalachian oak forest
   K106  Northern hardwoods
   K108  Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
   K111  Oak - hickory - pine forest

More info for the terms: ground fire, organic soils, tree

Gray birch is usually top-killed by low- to moderate-severity fires.
During periods of drought when organic soils can become extremely dry, a
hot, slow-moving ground fire can burn all the organic matter and consume
the shallow roots, thus killing the tree [4,31].

Beavers and porcupines chew on the bark and wood of gray birch.
Sapsuckers feed on the sap, and songbirds such as the pine siskin and
chickadee feed on the seeds.  The ruffed grouse eat the male catkins and
buds [7,26].  The twigs provide winter browse for snowshoe hare, moose,
and white-tailed deer [30].

More info for the terms: forest, habitat type, hardwood

Gray birch is listed as a common associate of the aspen-birch (Populus
spp.-Betula spp.) and the beech-birch-maple (Fagus spp.-Betula spp.-Acer
spp.) communities in the northeastern hardwood forest, but it is not an
indicator of any particular habitat type [21].

More info for the term: tree

Tree

Gray birch is not a valued timber species due to its small size and
limited distribution [17].  It is short-lived and does not compete with
more desirable commercial trees in any part of its range [14].  With the
exception of injury caused by leaf miner, gray birch is free from
diseases.  It is often seriously injured by ice and snow [7].

     CT  DE  IN  ME  MD  MA  NH  NJ  NY  NC
     OH  PA  RI  VT  VA  NB  NF  NS  ON  PE
     PQ

More info for the term: tree

The pleasing form, white bark, graceful slender branches, and delicate
foliage make gray birch an attractive tree for ornamental purposes.  Its
desirability is lessened only by its short life and liability to storm
injury [7].  Gray birch also has some value as a "nurse tree" for the
more valuable pines that require protection to become established
[17].

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More info for the terms: fruit, seed

Gray birch flowers between April and May; the fruit ripens from
September to October.  The seed is dispersed from October through the
middle of winter [2].

Gray birch will sprout from the stump following fire [1,25].

More info for the terms: secondary colonizer, seed, tree

   Tree with adventitious-bud root crown/root sucker
   Secondary colonizer - on-site seed
   Secondary colonizer - off-site seed

More info for the term: seed

Seed production and dissemination.  Gray birch reproduces mainly by
seed.  It begins producing seed at 8 years of age with abundant seed
crops every year.  The seed crops germinate readily.  The light, winged
seeds are dispersed by the wind and some seeds travel great distances
[1,10].  Gray birch is a prolific seed producer and will form a seed
bank in the soil [14,18].

Vegetative reproduction.  Gray birch sprouts from the stump when cut or
following fire.  Sprouting usually occurs when young trees have been cut
in the spring leaving stumps of about 2 inches (5 cm) in height [17].
Stump sprouts can be a valuable seed source since sprouts alone are
usually not numerous enough to adequately reproduce mature gray birch
stands [1,7].

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More info for the terms: climax, forest, hardwood, succession

Obligate Initial Community Species.

Gray birch is a pioneer species.  It is an early seral species in
oldfield succession or following clearcutting in northern hardwood
forests.  Gray birch is shade intolerant and eventually gives way to a
fir-spruce (Abies spp.-Picea spp.) forest community [12,18].  On
undisturbed sites, climax succession is toward a maple-beech forest
community [18].

More info for the term: marsh

The currently accepted scientific name for gray birch is Betula
populifolia Marsh. [22]. There are no recognized subspecies, varieties,
or forms.

More info for the term: hardwood

Its status as a pioneer species and its adaptability to disturbed sites
indicate that gray birch is a good hardwood species for use in
revegetating mine spoils and other disturbed areas.  It has been planted
successfully on acid coal mine spoils in Pennsylvania [35].

Propagation:  Gray birch can be propagated by grafting of cuttings.
Cuttings from seedlings root sooner and at higher rates, although no
percentages have been given [6,19].

More info for the term: fuel

Gray birch is easily worked with tools and is an excellent wood for
turning.  It is used for woodenware such as spools, clothespins, and
novelties.  Gray birch is much less valued than paper birch (B.
papyrifera) because of its small size, short life, and limited
distribution.  Its wood is often used for fuel, and stands can be cut
for firewood at comparatively frequent intervals because of its ability
to regenerate quickly [7,17].