The Effects of Fire versus Mowing on Prairie Plant Communities
Loading...
View/Download File
Persistent link to this item
Statistics
View StatisticsJournal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Title
The Effects of Fire versus Mowing on Prairie Plant Communities
Published Date
2003-07-01
Publisher
Type
Abstract
The primary goals of this project are to discover management processes which benefit a restored prairie and reduce the need for prescribed burning. Moreover, because of the interdependence of the plants and soil, there is a strong focus on the soil community as a driving force of the vegetation. Consequently, our objectives were to assess the effects of manipulation (burning, mowing) on: (1) the vegetative community, (2) the belowground mycorrhizal fungal community, and (3) on soil parameters. Prescribed burning has the strongest effects on plant community composition and is the most effective method to increase aboveground plant biomass in a restored tallgrass prairie. Burning especially favors warm season grasses (WSG) and legume species, though it also favors certain annual species. Spring haying is an acceptable alternative to spring burning, though its effects are less dramatic than the burn. In particular, haying does not favor WSG as extensively and may not damage cool-season species as thoroughly as burning. Adding lime to hayed prairie may help benefit the cool-season plants, native and exotic. However, utilizing mowing instead of burning probably does not differ much from leaving the prairie untreated. The process of removing litter seems to be the most important cause of the ecosystem response to prescribed burning. Hayed plots are the most similar to burned plots in terms of soil moisture, temperature, and litter quantity. Hence, litter removal by haying will likely be a sufficient practice to replace prescribed burning at many sites.
Keywords
Description
Related to
Replaces
License
Collections
Series/Report Number
Funding information
Minnesota Department of Transportation
Isbn identifier
Doi identifier
Previously Published Citation
Suggested citation
Tix, Daniel; Hebberger, Joanna; Vaughan, Elizabeth; Charvat, Iris D. (2003). The Effects of Fire versus Mowing on Prairie Plant Communities. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/910.
Content distributed via the University Digital Conservancy may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor. By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. Materials in the UDC may contain content that is disturbing and/or harmful. For more information, please see our statement on harmful content in digital repositories.