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Re: [iowa-native-plants] Re: Sporobolus heterolepis and fire

Sounds good. But how long had the burned side been left unburned, and
therefore how hot and how long did the clump burn?
Bob

At 10:05 AM 04/11/2000 -0500, Daryl Smith wrote:
>Robert
>Prairie dropseed may burn a bit more than other particularly if duff has
>been accumulating for quite awhie.  However, prairie dropseed is fire
>adapted such that flowering and seed set is greatly enhanced with
>burning.  In 1988 we did some sampling when we had dropseed on both
>sides of the fire line.  On the unburned side there was no flowering on
>12 clumps (no flowering was unusual as there is sometimes a little
>flowering without fire).  On the burned side: flowering and seed set was
>profuse, ranging from 20 stalks on a very small clump to several hundred
>on the larger clums, 29 out of 30 flowered profusely, the one that
>didn't flower was a small clump that was killed by the fire.  In
>addition, I am of the opinion that the fire burning in the larger clumps
>may kill part of the clump, but it subdivides the plant and
>reinvigorates it.
>Daryl Smith
>
>Robert Wernerehl wrote:
>> 
>> This year while burning some remnants, I noticed that when prairie sod here
>> has Sporobolus heterolepis (prairie dropseed grass) and when it hasn't been
>> burned for a number of years, that the clumps of dropseed burn quite a bit
>> longer due to accumulated duff, than they do when they are regularly
>> burned. The clumps are burning long after the rest is out. It becomes a
>> peat fire, basically. And apparently it can kill the clump of dropseed.
>> With the death of the dropseed goes the habitat of the red-tailed
>> leafhopper (federally listed). Here is a case when lack of fire can most
>> likely be quite detrimental to an insect population. This is just
>> conjectural, just an observation. I have no data to prove it. It got me
>> thinking and I wondered what others thought. Also, it led me to going
>> around and using water to put out the dropseed fires in hopes of saving the
>> plant. With regular fire, you don't have to do this.
>> 
>> Bob Wernerehl
>> 8237 Sweeny Road
>> Barneveld, WI 53507
>
>
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