Effects of dormant- vs. growing-season fire in shortgrass steppe: Biological soil crust and perennial grass responses

Ford, Paulette L.; Johnson, G. V.

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2006.01.020

Cited by 47 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…topography, soil, fauna (insects, herbivores), together with herbaceous plants [57] [60], can restrict the encroachment of woody plant (trees, shrubs), release nutrients bound up in organic matter, accelerating the rate of decomposition in the soil, so as to maintain the establishment and the stability of grasslands [6] [57] [61]. Descriptive studies [62] [63] show that fire occurrences decrease herbaceous production for one to three years.…”

Section: Impact Of Firementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The reestablishment of historical fire regime is fundamental to the ecological restoration of grasslands on the Great Plans [61]. This is especially the case for ecosystems with a long history of fire, such as the prairie ecosystem, where human's fire suppression caused series of negative consequences.…”

Section: Impact Of Firementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dormant-season fire on the other hand, is less detrimental to grass communities (opposite for soil crusts) than growing-season fire. Shortgrass steppe can recover from fire in 3 to 30 months, dependent on the fire season [61]. Ford et al also reported that in general, grass cover recovered quickly from the fire treatment, and the long-term effect of fire was neutral.…”

Section: Impact Of Firementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Vegetation cover, arthropod, mammal species richness treated with dormantseason fire recovered in approximately two months and showed no significant difference from untreated communities. Meanwhile, we must be cautious when interpreting the results from different researchers on the impact of timing of fire on the grassland ecosystem, since impact of fire varies for different types of plants according to their active growth season, with C4 plants least vulnerable to the dormant-season fire and most vulnerable to the growing season fire [61].…”

Section: Impact Of Firementioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Long Term Effect of Major Disturbances on the Northern Mixed Grassland Ecosystem—A Review

Li¹,

Guo²

2014

OJE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Grassland ecosystems in North America have been significantly altered through various disturbances from past to present. This paper has identified and examined major disturbances in the grassland ecosystems, which include grazing, fire and drought. A brief history of each disturbance is reviewed and its impact on the grassland ecosystem is discussed, by synthesizing previous research efforts available in the current literature. The paper intends to understand the grassland ecosystem from a comprehensive perspective and particularly tries to articulate the compound effect of the major disturbances in the same context instead of viewing them in isolations. It is concluded that a holistic understanding of the interaction between disturbances and plant communities is essential for sustainable grassland management, which demands comprehensive research effort in this area. The paper also points out the challenges we are facing in the current researches and suggests potential future improvement.

show abstract

Section: Impact Of Firementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Impact Of Firementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Impact Of Firementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Impact Of Firementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Long Term Effect of Major Disturbances on the Northern Mixed Grassland Ecosystem—A Review

Li¹,

Guo²

2014

OJE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The intense heat of a wildfire can penetrate surface soils increasing erodibility by destroying naturally occurring soil crusts (Ford and Johnson, 2006), increasing soil water repellency (Ravi et al, 2007), and decreasing aggregate stability (Varela et al, 2010). Fires in the Great Basin typically burn quickly and intensely, often consuming all vegetation due to the arid conditions and flammability of the fuels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A large source of dust missing in Particulate Matter emission inventories? Wind erosion of post-fire landscapes

Wagenbrenner

Chung

Lamb

2017

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Wind erosion of soils burned by wildfire contributes substantial particulate matter (PM) in the form of dust to the atmosphere, but the magnitude of this dust source is largely unknown. It is important to accurately quantify dust emissions because they can impact human health, degrade visibility, exacerbate dust-on-snow issues (including snowmelt timing, snow chemistry, and avalanche danger), and affect ecological and biogeochemical cycles, precipitation regimes, and the Earth's radiation budget. We used a novel modeling approach in which local-scale winds were used to drive a high-resolution dust emission model parameterized for burned soils to provide a first estimate of post-fire PM emissions. The dust emission model was parameterized with dust flux measurements from a 2010 fire scar. Here we present a case study to demonstrate the ability of the modeling framework to capture the onset and dynamics of a post-fire dust event and then use the modeling framework to estimate PM emissions from burn scars left by wildfires in U.S. western sagebrush landscapes during 2012. Modeled emissions from 1.2 million ha of burned soil totaled 32.1 Tg (11.7-352 Tg) of dust as PM 10 and 12.8 Tg (4.68-141 Tg) as PM 2.5 . Despite the relatively large uncertainties in these estimates and a number of underlying assumptions, these first estimates of annual post-fire dust emissions suggest that post-fire PM emissions could substantially increase current annual PM estimates in the U.S. National Emissions Inventory during high fire activity years. Given the potential for post-fire scars to be a large source of PM, further on-site PM flux measurements are needed to improve emission parameterizations and constrain these first estimates.

show abstract

The Study of Biological Soil Crusts: Hotspots and Prospects

Xie

et al. 2013

CLEAN Soil Air Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biological soil crusts (BSCs), which cover 35% of the continents and exceed 70% of the living cover in parts of region, play important ecological roles in the evolution of soil–water–plant systems in arid and semiarid areas. Since the 1980s, studies of BSCs have become hot topics in physical geography. By reviewing the last 30 years of study reports, the present paper proposes the following future research focus: (1) Understanding the function of BSCs in carbon and nitrogen fixation in the micro‐scale (block), monitoring its distribution patterns in the macro‐scale (region) by remote sensing technology and geographic information systems, and evaluate the role of carbon and nitrogen fixation in the whole ecological system. The response of BSCs to global climate change should also be evaluated. (2) Studying techniques for the artificial fast cultivation or restoration of BSCs, and implementing engineering propagation and application of artificial BSCs, and determining the appropriate parameters for environmental criteria, including light, temperature, soil water moisture, and fertilizer, among others. Artificial cultivation and rapid propagation techniques could present significant perspectives for engineering applications.

show abstract

Effects of dormant- vs. growing-season fire in shortgrass steppe: Biological soil crust and perennial grass responses

Cited by 47 publications

References 25 publications

Long Term Effect of Major Disturbances on the Northern Mixed Grassland Ecosystem—A Review

Long Term Effect of Major Disturbances on the Northern Mixed Grassland Ecosystem—A Review

A large source of dust missing in Particulate Matter emission inventories? Wind erosion of post-fire landscapes

The Study of Biological Soil Crusts: Hotspots and Prospects

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About