Rangeland Ecology & Management

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PLANT COMMUNITY RESPONSE FOLLOWING WILDFIRE AND HEAVY WINTER GRAZING DISTURBANCE REGIMES
Author
Xu, Lan
Brennan, Jameson R.
Johnson, Patricia S.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2018
Body

Northern Great Plains (NGP) grasslands evolved under the influence of grazing and fire, resulting in a mosaic of habitats of low, mid, and high seral plant communities. Much of that heterogeneity has been lost due to fire suppression and contemporary grazing management for uniform use. Research demonstrates that patch-burn grazing (PBG) effectively increases heterogeneity on the landscape by creating a shifting mosaic of vegetation structure and plant communities.� Many NGP landowners are averse to fire due to concerns of property and forage loss.� Thus, winter patch grazing (WPG) is being studied as an alternative, non-pyric management strategy for creating heterogeneity, wherein patches within pastures are created with heavy grazing during the dormant season rather than burning.� A wildfire in fall 2016 that burned several pastures at the SDSU Cottonwood Research Station, provided opportunity to compare the impacts of PBG and WPG on plant community composition and production.� Three treatment areas were located within each of three pastures: a wildfire burned patch, WPG patch, and an untreated control area. Cattle grazed each pasture in summer 2017, with access to all areas of the pasture.� Within each pasture and treatment, five exclosures were built to exclude cattle. Three 0.25m2 plots were randomly placed in each exclsoure for a total of 135 plots (45 per treatment).� Cover by species, bare ground, and litter were ocularly estimated in mid June and late July 2017; biomass was estimated for each species during the July sampling period.� Tiller density of western wheat grass and shortgrass species was also collected. Differences in plant community composition, cover, biomass production, and tiller density were analyzed to determine impacts of treatments.� Results from this study will help inform land managers of potential outcomes following disturbance regimes, and provide valuable insights into plant community responses to management strategies alternative to fire.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Reno, NV