Benefits to Native Grasses from a Summer Fire Still Present 12 Years Later

Whitney L. Behr; Christina Andruk; Carl Schwope; Norma L. Fowler

doi:10.3375/2162-4399-44.3.172

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8 July 2024 Benefits to Native Grasses from a Summer Fire Still Present 12 Years Later

Whitney L. Behr, Christina Andruk, Carl Schwope, Norma L. Fowler

Author Affiliations +

Whitney L. Behr,^1,*,** Christina Andruk,^2,*** Carl Schwope,^3,**** Norma L. Fowler^1,*****

¹Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712
²Biology Department, Iona University, New Rochelle, NY 10801
³Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Marble Falls, TX 78654

^*Corresponding author: whitney.behr@utexas.edu
^**Whitney L. Behr holds degrees in Environmental Studies (BA) from Northeastern Illinois University and Plant Biology (PhD) from University of Texas at Austin. She is a Restoration Biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service New England Ecological Services Field Office in Concord, New Hampshire.
^***Christina M. Andruk holds degrees in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (BS) from the University of Connecticut and Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior (PhD) from the University of Texas at Austin. She is an Associate Professor of Biology at Iona University with interests in plant community ecology, invasive species, fire, and plant–insect interactions.
^****Carl Schwope holds a BS in Wildlife Biology from Southwest Texas University in San Marcos, Texas. He is the Fire Management Officer at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge where he leads fire professionals in planning, developing, and implementing all phases of an integrated fire management program to achieve natural resource objectives, including using fire to manage habitat for threatened and endangered species.
^*****Norma L. Fowler holds degrees in Biology (University of Chicago; BA) and Botany (Duke University; PhD). She is a Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin. She has broad interests in plant conservation biology, plant population ecology, and plant community ecology, with particular interests in fire ecology, invasive plant species, and endangered plant species.

Natural Areas J., 44(3):172-182 (2024). https://doi.org/10.3375/2162-4399-44.3.172

Abstract

Using prescribed fire to control invasive grass species in historically fire-maintained grasslands is a complex endeavor. If both the invasive and native grass species are fire-adapted, there is concern that a prescribed fire that reduces the invasive grass species will also damage the native grass species. In the historically fire-maintained grasslands of the southern Great Plains, controlling the invasive grass Bothriochloa ischaemum is a major challenge. Some previous studies in the region have found that prescribed fires in the summer or early autumn have been successful in the short term in reducing B. ischaemum without also reducing native grasses. We established an experiment in 2009 in central Texas evaluating the effects of a single summer burn and of clipping in plots with different initial vegetation (dominated by B. ischaemum or by native species) on B. ischaemum cover and on native species richness and cover. We applied the burning and clipping treatments in 2009 and surveyed plant communities in 2011 (2 y post-fire) and in 2021 (12 y post-fire) to determine whether the summer prescribed burn effectively reduced B. ischaemum 2 y later, whether those reductions persisted after 12 y, whether clipping was equivalent to burning in its effects on B. ischaemumdominated communities, and whether the treatments had beneficial impacts on the native plant species in the community. B. ischaemum cover was significantly reduced in the burned plots in 2011 and richness and cover of native species had increased. By 2021, only native grass cover was significantly higher in the burned plots than in the unburned plots. Clipping did not have effects equal to burning after 12 y in the B. ischaemum-dominated plots. Species richness increases were similar between burned and clipped invasive-dominated plots in 2011, but these similarities had disappeared by 2021. This study suggests that repeated fires are necessary to maintain reductions in B. ischaemum cover but that benefits to native grass cover can persist even if the invasive grass cover reductions are not maintained.

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Whitney L. Behr, Christina Andruk, Carl Schwope, and Norma L. Fowler "Benefits to Native Grasses from a Summer Fire Still Present 12 Years Later," Natural Areas Journal 44(3), 172-182, (8 July 2024). https://doi.org/10.3375/2162-4399-44.3.172

Published: 8 July 2024

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