Did lightning-initiated growing season fires characterize oak-dominated ecosystems of southern Ohio?¹

Are vegetation—environment relationships different between herbaceous and woody groundcover plants in barrens with shallow soils?

“…Our barren sites were once characterized by a natural fire regime (Petersen & Drewa, 2006), but decades of fire suppression have resulted in woody plant encroachment, including an increase in the abundance of Juniperus virginiana. Some of these canopy cedars were cut at ground level and removed from sites to restore the open structure in the mid-1990s and were found to be 80-90 y old (D. Minney, pers.…”

“…Like savannas, barrens are pyrogenic ecosystems characterized by surface fires of low intensity (Heikens & Robertson, 1994), but the natural fire regime is not well understood (Petersen & Drewa, 2006). They are also among the most endangered ecosystems in the midwestern US because of agriculture and urbanization that began in the late 1700s, as well as decades of fire suppression (Heikens & Robertson, 1994;Anderson, Fralish & Baskin, 1999).…”

Ecological effects of prescribed fire season: a literature review and synthesis for managers

“…It therefore appears that both fire intensity and phenology play a role. other times of the year (Boyer 1993, Drewa et al 2006, Glitzenstein et al 1995b, Streng et al 1993, Waldrop et al 1987, White et al 1991. This is particularly true if burns are repeated at annual or biennial intervals.…”

“…Mark's National Wildlife Refuge study (Glitzenstein et al 1995a(Glitzenstein et al , 1995bStreng et al 1993) Other studies suggest an effect of fire intensity differences among burn seasons (Drewa et al 2006, Glitzenstein et al 2003. Shorter statured vegetation, such as midstory hardwoods and shrubs, is more likely to be affected by seasonal differences in scorch height (Robbins and Myers 1992).…”

“…At the plant community level, repeated growingseason burning generally increases the cover of grasses and diversity of herbaceous species (Drewa et al 2002(Drewa et al , 2006Lewis and Harshbarger 1976;Waldrop et al 1987;White et al 1991). This shift is likely because of release from shrub competition (shrubs are selected against by growing-season burns) and removal of the litter layer (Lewis et al 1982).…”