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Re: Burn Study

On Fri, 20 Mar 1998, Caron Ann Rifici wrote:

>    I work as a Range Tech/Botanist at a local Army base here in the
> Colorado
> foothills. We will be initiating a burn study of some of the short grass
> prairie

Caron:
	I thought I would share some info and experiences I've had from 
working in shortgrass communities in southwest Kansas.  I used 0.10 sq
meter plots to record foliage cover and bare ground and 10.0 sq meter
plots to record species presence/absence.  The larger plots dramatically
increased the number of species that I would detect. Using the two
different size plots helps for detecting differences in frequency in my
treatments when a difference is detectable in one plot size but not
another for certain species.  I used 40 - 60 plots per quarter section
(160 acres).  When I plot cumulative species richness against cumulative
plots sampled, the number of new species encountered still is not leveling
off at 40 plots. It would have been ideal to sample more plots, but I was
constrained by time.  In low diversity fields where I had to record few
species and collect few unknown specimens, I could read 60 plots in three
hours.  In high diversity fields or where I had to collect and record lots
of unknown specimens, 60 plots could take me five hours. If I were able to
do it all over again, I probably wouldn't do foliar cover because I think
it's too easily influenced by variables such as grazing and precip that
can change very quickly.  I think a point method or modified step-point
method might have been more useful because it seems to me that basal
measurements give more reliable information than foliar measurements.  I
also question the accuracy/utility of cover "estimates", whereas a point
method records plants that are actually hit by a pin or the nearest plant
to the pin.  

Heres some citations you might find useful:

Martinsen et al. 1990. Impact of pocket gopher disturbance on plant
species diversity in a shortgrass prairie community. Oecologia 83:132-138.

Coffin et al. 1996. Recovery of vegetation in a semiarid grassland 53
years after disturbance. Ecological Applications 6:538-555.

Wright. 1978. Use of fire to manage grasslands of the Great Plains:
central and southern Great Plains. Proceedings of the First International
Rangeland Congress 694-696.

Wright and Bailey. 1980. Fire ecology and prescribed burning in the Great
Plains - a research review. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report
INT-77.

Lauenroth and Milchunas. 1992. Short-grass steppe. In "Ecosystems of the
World. Vol 8A, Natural Grasslands, Introduction and Western Hemisphere"
edited by R T Coupland, 183-226. Elsevier Scientific Publishing,
Amsterdam.

Launchbaugh. 1973. Effects of fire on shortgrass and mixed prairie
species. Proceedings of the Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference
12:129-151.

Milchunas et al. 1988. A generalized model of the effects of grazing by
large herbivores on grassland community structure. American Naturalist
132:87-106.

Weaver et al. 1996. Prairie ecology - the shortgrass prairie. In "Prairie
Conservation: Preserving North America's Most Endangered Ecosystem" edited
by Samson and Knopf. Island Press, Washington D.C.

Ford and McPherson. 1996. Ecology of fire in shortgrass prairie of the
southern Great Plains. In "Ecosystem Disturbance and Wildlife Conservation
in Western Grasslands: a Symposium Proceedings". USDA Forest Service
General Technical Report RM-GTR 285.


Hope this helps.

Steve

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