Sprouts originate from adventitious buds on the sides of the stump and at the root crown. Stump sprouts can exhibit fast growth. Black ash is most commonly found growing in moist to wet muck or shallow organic soils. It also grows on fine sands and loams underlain by clays and on other poorly drained sites with high water tables. In the Great Lake States black ash is a pioneer.
Little information is available concerning black ash fire survival strategies.
It probably survives fire by sprouting and colonizes burned sites through wind-dispersed seed. Depending on fire severity, black ash is probably killed or top-killed by fire. Black ash probably sprouts from the root crown following top-damage from fire. Barnes, Burton V. 1976. Succession in deciduous swamp communities of southeastern Michigan formerly dominated by American elm.