Postfire Defoliation Response of Agropyron spicatum and Sitanion hystrix

1994 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 77 ◽  
Author(s):  
SJ Jirik ◽  
SC Bunting
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Production ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Phenological Stage ◽  
Late Season ◽  
Fuel Accumulation ◽  
Sitanion Hystrix ◽  
Agropyron Spicatum

Prescribed fire is an important management tool to increase herbaceous productivity and maintain seral communities of Intermountain sagebrush grasslands. Currently, pastures treated with prescribed fire are rested from livestock grazing before burning to allow fine fuel accumulation, and rested a full year following burning to restore bunchgrass vigor. This study examined the post-fire defoliation response of Agropyron spicatum and Sitanion hystrix to three different defoliation treatments: an early season defoliation during the boot phenological stage, late season defoliation after seedset, and non-defoliation. Plant response to these defoliation timings was compared to determine the amount of non-use required to restore vigor to these species following fire. Mortality was low for late and non-defoliated plants of both species. Results indicate no differences between late season and non-defoliated plants for biomass production, basal area, or culm number for Agropyron. No differences in Sitanion culm number resulted between the late and non defoliated treatments. Sitanion biomass production differed between late and non-defoliated treatments at Emmett, but not at Craters of the Moon. Basal area and culm number of late and non-defoliated plants of both species increased as compared to the first post-burn season.

scholarly journals Traditional Free-Ranging Livestock Farming as a Management Strategy for Biological and Cultural Landscape Diversity: A Case from the Southern Apennines

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 957
Author(s):  
Claudia Troiano ◽  
Maria Buglione ◽  
Simona Petrelli ◽  
Sofia Belardinelli ◽  
Antonino De Natale ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Landscape Management ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Southern Apennines ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Livestock Farming ◽  
Managed Landscapes ◽  
Free Ranging

Mediterranean mountain landscapes are undergoing a widespread phenomenon of abandonment. This brings, as a consequence, the loss of traditional land use practices, such as transhumant pastoralism, as well as shrub and wood encroachment, with repercussions on the biodiversity associated with semi-open, human-managed landscapes. In this study, we focus on a mountain pasture from the Southern Apennines (Italy), where free-ranging transhumant grazing is still carried out, to quantify the effects of grazing presence and exclusion on arthropod diversity, and to qualitatively characterize the plant communities of grazed and ungrazed areas. Using field sampling, remote sensing, and semi-structured interviews, we assessed the validity of traditional cattle farming as a landscape management tool. Indeed, high diversity grasslands excluded from grazing were characterized by significantly less even and more dominated arthropod communities, as well as fewer plant species and families. Moreover, in areas that have been consistently grazed over the years, we found no forest encroachment from 1955 to 2019. However, rural communities are experiencing difficulties in keeping local traditions alive, even with current agri-environmental schemes. Thus, traditional livestock grazing can be a valuable management tool to maintain high biological and cultural diversity, even if stronger cooperation and attention to local needs is necessary.

scholarly journals Estimating Fuel Consumption for the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina

2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott L. Goodrick ◽  
Dan Shea ◽  
John Blake
Keyword(s):  
South Carolina ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Fuel Consumption ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Fuel Load ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Continued Use

Abstract Recent changes in air quality regulations present a potential obstacle to continued use of prescribed fire as a land management tool. Lowering of the acceptable daily concentration of particulate matter from 65 to 35 μg/m3 will bring much closer scrutiny of prescribed burning practices from the air quality community. To work within this narrow window, land managers need simple tools to allow them to estimate their potential emissions and examine trade-offs between continued use of prescribed fire and other means of fuels management. A critical part of the emissions estimation process is determining the amount of fuel consumed during the burn. This study combines results from a number of studies along the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina to arrive at a simple means of estimating total fuel consumption on prescribed fires. The result is a simple linear relationship that determines the total fuel consumed as a function of the product of the preburn fuel load and the burning index of the National Fire Danger Rating System.

scholarly journals Ranchers Vs. Ranchettes in California's Oak Rangelands

Rangelands ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Wacker ◽  
N. Maggi Kelly ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Vegetation Management ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Sierra Nevada Foothills

Livestock grazing appears a viable and useful vegetation management tool in the Sierra Nevada Foothills.

scholarly journals Tree Mortality Following Mixed-Severity Prescribed Fire Dramatically Alters the Structure of a Developing Pinus taeda Forest on the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain

Fire ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Ray ◽  
Deborah Landau
Keyword(s):  
Loblolly Pine ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Pine Forest ◽  
Atlantic Coastal Plain ◽  
Relative Reduction ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Horizontal Structure

This case study documents the aftermath of a mixed-severity prescribed fire conducted during the growing season in a young loblolly pine forest. The specific management objective involved killing a substantial proportion of the overstory trees and creating an open-canopy habitat. The burn generated canopy openings across 26% of the 25-ha burn block, substantially altering the horizontal structure. Mortality of pines was high and stems throughout the size distribution were impacted; stem density was reduced by 60% and basal area and aboveground biomass (AGB) by ~30% at the end of the first growing season. A nonlinear regression model fit to plot data portrays a positive relationship between high stocking (i.e., relative density > 0.60) and postburn mortality. Survival of individual trees was reliably modeled with logistic regression, including variables describing the relative reduction in the size of tree crowns following the burn. Total AGB recovered rapidly, on average exceeding levels at the time of the burn by 23% after six growing seasons. Intentional mixed-severity burning effectively created persistent canopy openings in a young fire-tolerant precommercial-sized pine forest, meeting our objectives of structural alteration for habitat restoration.

scholarly journals Extended xylogenesis and stem biomass production in Juniperus przewalskii Kom. during extreme late-season climatic events

2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Junzhou Zhang ◽  
M. Ross Alexander ◽  
Xiaohua Gou ◽  
Annie Deslauriers ◽  
Patrick Fonti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Production ◽  
Stem Biomass ◽  
Late Season

Heterogeneity in fire severity within early season and late season prescribed burns in a mixed-conifer forest

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric E. Knapp ◽  
Jon E. Keeley
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Fire Severity ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Fuel Loading ◽  
Early Season ◽  
Late Season ◽  
Fuel Loads ◽  
In Fire

Structural heterogeneity in forests of the Sierra Nevada was historically produced through variation in fire regimes and local environmental factors. The amount of heterogeneity that prescription burning can achieve might now be more limited owing to high fuel loads and increased fuel continuity. Topography, woody fuel loading, and vegetative composition were quantified in plots within replicated early and late season burn units. Two indices of fire severity were evaluated in the same plots after the burns. Scorch height ranged from 2.8 to 25.4 m in early season plots and 3.1 to 38.5 m in late season plots, whereas percentage of ground surface burned ranged from 24 to 96% in early season plots and from 47 to 100% in late season plots. Scorch height was greatest in areas with steeper slopes, higher basal area of live trees, high percentage of basal area composed of pine, and more small woody fuel. Percentage of area burned was greatest in areas with less bare ground and rock cover (more fuel continuity), steeper slopes, and units burned in the fall (lower fuel moisture). Thus topographic and biotic factors still contribute to the abundant heterogeneity in fire severity with prescribed burning, even under the current high fuel loading conditions. Burning areas with high fuel loads in early season when fuels are moister may lead to patterns of heterogeneity in fire effects that more closely approximate the expected patchiness of historical fires.

scholarly journals Low-basal area treatment and prescribed fire to restore oak-pine savannas alter small mammal communities

2017 ◽  
Vol 400 ◽  
pp. 353-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Eve Jacques ◽  
Stephen W. Hallgren ◽  
Duncan S. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Small Mammal Communities ◽  
Pine Savannas ◽  
Mammal Communities

Tree mortality 6 years after burning a thinned Quercuschrysolepis stand

1993 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 2236-2241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy E. Paysen ◽  
Marcia G. Narog
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Root Zone ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Prescribed Burn ◽  
Live Oak ◽  
San Bernardino ◽  
Favorable Conditions

Managers do not currently use prescribed fire in stands of canyon live oak (Quercuschrysolepis Liebm.) because it is highly susceptible to fire injury. A preliminary study investigating the effects of prescribed burning on this species was initiated on the San Bernardino National Forest in southern California. The purpose was to assess the feasibility of using thinning and prescribed burning to develop shaded fuel breaks in these stands. This paper addresses aboveground tree mortality inventoried 2 and 6 years after a prescribed burn. Aboveground tree stems were judged as live or dead (irrespective of root-zone sprouting). Fire caused approximately 50% mortality in DBH classes ≤15 cm and <10% in larger classes. Between the 2nd and 6th years after burning, tree mortality increased by only 3%. Our results suggest that prescribed fire can be used as a management tool in Q. chrysolepis stands and that tree mortality might be evaluated sooner than previously believed. More investigations are required to identify favorable conditions for prescribed burning in this species, as well as applicability for (i) degree of hazard reduction near the urban wildland interface, (ii) stand improvement by thinning small or crowded trees, and (iii) revitalizing wildlife habitat.

scholarly journals Effects of fire and thinning on Kansas oak woodlands

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mary Faith Short
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
The United States ◽  
Tree Density ◽  
Canopy Openness ◽  
First Year ◽  
Herbaceous Plant ◽  
Basal Diameter ◽  
Advance Regeneration

Prior to Euro-American settlement, a mosaic of prairie, savanna, woodland, and forest existed within the Forest-Prairie Transition Region of the United States, with anthropogenic fire acting as an important driver in the perpetuation of open-oak communities. As fire suppression became a regular practice throughout the 20th century, these historically open communities became threatened by encroaching fire-sensitive, and often shade-tolerant, species. This study evaluated the effects of prescribed fire and thinning treatments as methods to achieve woodland restoration objectives, which commonly include reducing stand density, reducing mesophytic oak-competitors, increasing canopy openness, increasing herbaceous plant cover, and promoting the regeneration of oak. We investigated the effects of six treatment types on the structure and composition of a Kansas oak woodland. Treatments included: prescribed fire (burn), thin to 60 ft sq/acre basal area (T60), thin to 30 ft sq/acre basal area (T30), the combination of fire and thin to 60 ft sq/acre basal area (BT60), the combination of fire and thin to 30 ft sq/acre basal area (BT30), and an untreated control. Additionally, we examined the effect of fire on advance regeneration survival probability for five tree species: chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii), black oak (Q. velutina), bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), and eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana). Following a single girdle and herbicide application thinning treatment, we found low mortality in the first year, especially for sugar maple. As a result, the reduction in overstory basal area did not meet our intended targets. A single dormant season prescribed burn was effective at reducing large and small seedling densities of sugar maple and other oak-competitors, and increased forb and legume cover in the understory. However, the burn only treatment had no effect on overstory stand metrics, including basal area, tree density, percent stocking, and canopy openness. Thinning of the overstory and midstory in combination with prescribed fire resulted in similar effects to seedling densities and ground flora cover as the burn only treatment, but also created reduced tree density in the sapling layer and greater canopy openness. Additionally, the effect of the burn only treatment on advance regeneration revealed that significant relationships exist between pretreatment stem basal diameter and height and the probability of surviving a single fire for some of the species. These initial results are for the first year following treatments and over time we expect vegetation dynamics to continue to respond to treatments.

scholarly journals Effects of Fire on Mixed-Grass Plant Communities in Badlands National Park

1986 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 5-10
Author(s):  
Steven Whisenant ◽  
Dan Uresk
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Prescribed Fire ◽  
National Park ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Grass Species ◽  
Important Goal ◽  
Mixed Grass Prairie ◽  
Mixed Grass ◽  
Badlands National Park

This research had the objective of determining the influence of fire on densities and standing crops of the major grass species of the Badlands National Park mixed-grass prairie. An important goal was to evaluate the potential of prescribed fire as a management tool for Japanese brome (Bromus japonicus).

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