Effects of experimental prescribed fire and tree thinning on oak savanna understory plant communities and ecosystem structure

Bassett, Tyler; Landis, Douglas A.; Brudvig, Lars A.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118047

Cited by 29 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Species richness and evenness provide intuitive, relevant measures that can be easily understood and communicated. Many studies have relied solely on species richness or evenness as a measure of diversity (e.g., [ 28 , 29 , 76 , 77 ]), and they can be somewhat responsive to management (fire [ 17 , 78 ]; deer control [ 55 ]; fire and thinning [ 79 ]), or relatively unaffected by them (deer control [ 80 ]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dramatic long-term restoration of an oak woodland due to multiple, sustained management treatments

Glennemeier¹,

Packard²,

Spyreas

2020

PLoS ONE

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We measured 34 years of plant community change in a degraded oak woodland undergoing ecological management. Management included regular prescribed fire, control of white-tailed deer populations, repeated sowing of a diverse seed mix, and removal of invasive plants. We tracked change with several conservation metrics. Time series analysis showed no significant changes over time in either plant species richness or the Shannon-Weiner diversity index. Floristic Quality Assessment measures—the Floristic Quality Index (FQI), Cover-weighted FQI, and the Mean Coefficient of Conservatism (Mean C )—all increased dramatically over time, such that their values now surpass those of the highest quality representative of this habitat in the region. Cover-weighted FQI had the added benefit of being quick to respond (negatively and positively) to short-term management changes during the study. This sensitivity highlights its utility for adaptive management, enabling timely, data-driven changes to ongoing management regimes. Plant community composition showed striking changes during the study period, as species of high conservation value replaced weedier species. As a group, conservative woodland species are notoriously slow to recover from degradation, making this flora’s recovery particularly notable. A mid-study cessation of management immediately stalled the woodland’s recovery according to Floristic Quality metrics, but the restoration quickly returned to its positive trajectory with the resumption of management treatments. These results illustrate that impressive plant biodiversity restoration can be achieved, even in highly degraded contemporary oak ecosystems, if ecological management is comprehensive and if it is sustained over time.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dramatic long-term restoration of an oak woodland due to multiple, sustained management treatments

Glennemeier¹,

Packard²,

Spyreas

2020

PLoS ONE

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“…Excluding the summer treatment (non-significant trend line, n = 6) and displayed as a solid black line, the regression equation for the fall, winter, and unburned sites combined was: B. ischaemum cover = À0.64(canopy cover) + 50.10, n = 18, r 2 = 0.47, P = 0.0017. et al , Bassett et al 2020, our results show that fire in any season produces herbaceous cover and canopy cover similar to old-growth grasslands, while fire exclusion (i.e., unburned treatment) resulted in woody dominance and reduced herbaceous cover (Fig. 4).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

Season of prescribed fire determines grassland restoration outcomes after fire exclusion and overgrazing

et al. 2021

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Fire exclusion and mismanaged grazing are globally important drivers of environmental change in mesic C 4 grasslands and savannas. Although interest is growing in prescribed fire for grassland restoration, we have little long-term experimental evidence of the influence of burn season on the recovery of herbaceous plant communities, encroachment by trees and shrubs, and invasion by exotic grasses. We conducted a prescribed fire experiment (seven burns between 2001 and 2019) in historically fire-excluded and overgrazed grasslands of central Texas. Sites were assigned to one of four experimental treatments: summer burns (warm season, lightning season), fall burns (early cool season), winter burns (late cool season), or unburned (fire exclusion). To assess restoration outcomes of the experiment, in 2019, we identified old-growth grasslands to serve as reference sites. Herbaceous-layer plant communities in all experimental sites were compositionally and functionally distinct from old-growth grasslands, with little recovery of perennial C 4 grasses and long-lived forbs. Unburned sites were characterized by several species of tree, shrub, and vine; summer sites were characterized by certain C 3 grasses and forbs; and fall and winter sites were intermediate in composition to the unburned and summer sites. Despite compositional differences, all treatments had comparable plot-level plant species richness (range 89-95 species/1000 m 2 ). At the localscale, summer sites (23 species/m 2 ) and old-growth grasslands (20 species/m 2 ) supported greater richness than unburned sites (15 species/m 2 ), but did not differ significantly from fall or winter sites. Among fire treatments, summer and winter burns most consistently produced the vegetation structure of old-growth grasslands (e.g., mean woody canopy cover of 9%). But whereas winter burns promoted the invasive grass Bothriochloa ischaemum by maintaining areas with low canopy cover, summer burns simultaneously limited woody encroachment and controlled B. ischaemum invasion. Our results support a growing body of literature that shows that prescribed fire alone, without the introduction of plant propagules, cannot necessarily restore old-growth grassland community composition. Nonetheless, this long-term experiment demonstrates that prescribed burns implemented in the summer can benefit restoration by preventing woody encroachment while also controlling an invasive grass. We suggest that fire season deserves greater attention in grassland restoration planning and ecological research.

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“…These findings postulate that if fire suppression continues unrestricted, together with other biotic and abiotic factors responsible for the current decline of oak savanna communities, there would be a successional trend away from oak dominance towards a future of red maple dominance. This postulation can be addressed in future field studies, especially ones incorporating restoration techniques such as prescribed burning and mechanical thinning [46] and spatially explicit models [47]. Understanding the degree of impact of competitor species (e.g.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Climate on Oak Savanna Tree Species in the Midwestern United States

Hayford

Chhin

2020

IJECC

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Aims: The previously abundant high quality and open canopy oak savanna communities in the Midwest have been reduced by more than 98% of their pre-settlement (pre-1840) area because of changing land use and represent some of the most threatened ecosystems in North America. Prior knowledge of oak savanna communities’ climatic resilience to potential impact of climate change and competition is critical to restoration success. This study examined sensitivity to climatic stress, and effects of competition, which are important considerations during oak savanna restoration. Methodology: Dendrochronological methods were used to sample oak savanna communities located in MacCready Reserve (MR) situated in southern Michigan, U.S.A. The influence of climate (mainly temperature and precipitation) on white oak (Quercus alba L.), red maple (Acer rubrum L), and black cherry (Prunus serotina Ehrh) were correlated using dendroclimatic techniques. The effect of competitor species (A. rubrum and P. serotina) on Q. alba were examined using competitor ratio chronologies and examining correlations with climatic variables. Results: Findings indicate that precipitation in winter, spring, and summer is beneficial for radial growth of white oak. White oak is more resilient to drought stress than red maple and black cherry due to its ecophysiological adaptations but tends to grow rather slower when in competition with shade tolerant and fire sensitive competitor species. Conclusion: Overall, this study has shown that temperature and precipitation play key roles in tree productivity and thus climatic sensitivity should be incorporated in the restoration of oak savanna ecosystems.

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Effects of experimental prescribed fire and tree thinning on oak savanna understory plant communities and ecosystem structure

Cited by 29 publications

References 32 publications

Dramatic long-term restoration of an oak woodland due to multiple, sustained management treatments

Dramatic long-term restoration of an oak woodland due to multiple, sustained management treatments

Season of prescribed fire determines grassland restoration outcomes after fire exclusion and overgrazing

Influence of Climate on Oak Savanna Tree Species in the Midwestern United States

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