Surface Temperatures and Durations Associated with Spring Prescribed Fires in Eastern South Dakota Tallgrass Prairies

Ohrtman, Michelle K.; Clay, Sharon A.; Smart, Alexander J.

doi:10.1674/0003-0031-173.1.88

Cited by 11 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(57 reference statements)

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“…The maximum temperatures recorded during burns are normal for worldwide grasslands since most other researchers have found slightly lower 1 cm depth soil temperatures than the current study (Heyward , Norton and McGarity , Morgan , Ohrtman et al. , but see Bentley and Fenner ). However, decreases in soil temperatures due to burns, rather than increases, could potentially cause fine root mortality.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 46%

“…, Ohrtman et al. ). Data collection required connecting iButtons to a Maxim Integrated DS1402D reader, which required removing the iButtons from the soil approximately every six months.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I used two sets of iButtons, one for long-term monitoring over many months and another for short-term monitoring of soil temperatures during burns. For long-term monitoring, I programmed iButtons to record soil temperatures every 155 min, and iButtons were buried to 2.5 cm because this depth is similar to many studies (DeBano et al 1979, Savadogo et al 2007, Ohrtman et al 2015. Data collection required connecting iButtons to a Maxim Integrated DS1402D reader, which required removing the iButtons from the soil approximately every six months.…”

Section: Data Collection: Soil Temperaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Burning and mowing similarly increase prairie plant production in the spring, but not due to increased soil temperatures

Dickson

2019

Ecosphere

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Burning and mowing are two of the most common grassland disturbances across millions of hectares worldwide, but uncertainty remains about when and why these disturbances increase plant production. One of the main hypotheses for increased plant production is that disturbances increase soil temperature in the early growing season and thereby increase plant growth. I tested this hypothesis using a multi‐decade study of the frequency (annual or quadrennial) and season (spring, summer, or autumn) of reconstructed tallgrass prairie burning and mowing. To determine plant production, I measured aboveground biomass during three periods of the 2015 growing season: (1) prior to mid‐May; (2) mid‐May to early July; and (3) early July to the end of the growing season in late September. I also measured soil temperatures from May 2014 to January 2016. This unique dataset allows a detailed picture of when burning and mowing are increasing plant production and whether these increases are likely caused by soil temperatures. I found that, compared to other treatments, autumn burning and mowing similarly increased plant production from the beginning of the growing season to mid‐May (autumn disturbances increased production from 37 to 77 g/m2) and, compared to other treatments, both autumn and spring burning and mowing similarly increased plant production from mid‐May to early July (autumn and spring disturbances increased production from 363 to 439 g/m2). Mowing had little effect on soil temperature but burning increased average daily maximum soil temperature at 2.5 cm depth by 6.4°C in the month after burning. Overall, these results suggest that burning did not increase early growing season plant production due to increased soil temperature, given that mowing similarly affected plant production but did not similarly affect soil temperature. I explore alternate explanations for changes in plant production, including increased light and nutrient availability, and decreased detritus.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 46%

“…, Ohrtman et al. ). Data collection required connecting iButtons to a Maxim Integrated DS1402D reader, which required removing the iButtons from the soil approximately every six months.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Data Collection: Soil Temperaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Burning and mowing similarly increase prairie plant production in the spring, but not due to increased soil temperatures

Dickson

2019

Ecosphere

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“…Pellegrini et al (2018) shows that the time of fire treatment is impacted more the grassland, savannas, and broadleaf forests than the neddleleaf forests on the Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorous storage in soils. Paleofire impacts on vegetation, carbon, and other nutrients in the systems are therefore likely to be different than those observed and monitored today (Dijkstra, Wrage, Hobbie, & Reich, 2006;Hernández & Hobbie, 2008;Ohrtman et al, 2015;Reich, Peterson, Wedin, & Wrage, 2001), which underscores the need to improve our understanding of grassland fire history and the potential consequences of future human impacts and climate change.…”

Section: Prescribed Burning Versus Natural Wildfiresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An increase in the abundance of C4 grasses during this same time period is also documented and linked to greater moisture and high fire regime (Nelson, Hu, Tian, Stefanova, & Brown, ). Higher biomass during drier period of the experimentation in the Tallgrass Prairies of South Dakota, however, is associated with higher surface temperatures, and potentially with strong winds (Ohrtman, Clay, & Smart, ). Thus, past reconstructions suggest that climate–vegetation–fire interactions in grasslands are both spatially and temporally variable even without consideration of human impacts on fire regimes.…”

Section: Past and Present Role Of Firementioning

confidence: 99%

Global fire history of grassland biomes

Leys

Marlon

Umbanhowar

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Grasslands are globally extensive; they exist in many different climates, at high and low elevations, on nutrient‐rich and nutrient‐poor soils. Grassland distributions today are closely linked to human activities, herbivores, and fire, but many have been converted to urban areas, forests, or agriculture fields. Roughly 80% of fires globally occur in grasslands each year, making fire a critical process in grassland dynamics. Yet, little is known about the long‐term history of fire in grasslands. Here, we analyze sedimentary archives to reconstruct grassland fire histories during the Holocene. Given that grassland locations change over time, we compare several charcoal‐based fire reconstructions based on alternative classification schemes: (a) sites from modern grassland locations; (b) sites that were likely grasslands during the mid‐Holocene; and (c) sites based on author‐derived classifications. We also compare fire histories from grassland sites, forested sites, and all sites globally over the past 12,000 years. Forested versus grassland sites show different trends: grassland burning increased from the early to mid‐Holocene, reaching a maximum about 8000–6000 years ago, and subsequently declined, reaching a minimum around 4000 years ago. In contrast, biomass burning in forests increased during the Holocene until about 2000 years ago. Continental grassland fire history reconstructions show opposing Holocene trends in North versus South America, whereas grassland burning in Australia was highly variable in the early Holocene and much more stable after the mid‐Holocene. The sharp differences in continental as well as forest versus grassland Holocene fire history trajectories have important implications for our understanding of global biomass burning and its emissions, the global carbon cycle, biodiversity, conservation, and land management.

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Weather and Fuel as Modulators of Grassland Fire Behavior in the Northern Great Plains

McGranahan

Zopfi

Yurkonis

2022

Environmental Management

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Surface Temperatures and Durations Associated with Spring Prescribed Fires in Eastern South Dakota Tallgrass Prairies

Cited by 11 publications

References 48 publications

Burning and mowing similarly increase prairie plant production in the spring, but not due to increased soil temperatures

Burning and mowing similarly increase prairie plant production in the spring, but not due to increased soil temperatures

Global fire history of grassland biomes

Weather and Fuel as Modulators of Grassland Fire Behavior in the Northern Great Plains

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