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CONSERVATION OF PATTERN AND PROCESS IN HETEROGENEOUS GRASSLANDS IN A CHANGING CLIMATE
Author
Averett, Josh P.
McCune, Bruce
Parks, Catherine
Naylor, Bridgett
Delcurto, Timothy
Ochsner, Tyson
Carlson, J.D.
Krueger, Erik S.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2015
Body

Based on current climate projection models, extreme climatic events are expected to occur more frequently in central North America during the next century. Previous studies indicate variability in precipitation and increasing temperatures can have a range of impacts on vegetation dynamics such as altered plant maturation rate and production, as well as ecosystem structure and function by altering disturbance regimes such as fire and grazing. These trends have been used as indicators of the potential for future vegetation responses in the face of climate change. We assessed the relationship between fire and grazing with plant biomass production, crude protein production, and resulting landscape heterogeneity before (2009) and after (2012-2013) an exceptional flash drought in 2011. This study was conducted on three 60 ha experimental grasslands at the Oklahoma State University Research Range. In each experimental landscape, fire and grazing is used to create a heterogeneous, shifting mosaic landscape with different patches at various stages of recovery from focal disturbance (burned this year, burned last year, burned two years ago). Plant biomass and crude protein production were measured biweekly from May-November and landscape heterogeneity was defined as the average standard deviation of plant biomass and crude protein that occurred among patches within each landscape. To analyze the strength of the fire-grazing interaction on plant biomass and crude protein, coefficients of temporal autocorrelation were calculated as a function of time since fire and grazing. While mean plant biomass and crude protein did not differ following drought, temporal autocorrelation results showed the strength of the fire-grazing interaction was significantly altered, which reduced vegetation contrasts among patches and led to a more uniform and homogeneous landscape. Based on these findings, managing for heterogeneity in grasslands may become more difficult with increasing frequencies of drought and rising temperatures in the future.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Sacramento, CA
Collection
SRM Annual Meeting Abstracts