Anchor Chaining’s Influence on Soil Hydrology and Seeding Success in Burned Piñon-Juniper Woodlands

Madsen, Matthew D.; Zvirzdin, Daniel L.; Petersen, Steven L.; Hopkins, Bryan G.; Roundy, Bruce A.

doi:10.1016/j.rama.2015.03.010

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 54 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Seeding after juniper removal is generally considered essential to provide effective suppression of exotic annual grasses through competition for spring soil moisture [ 66 , 72 , 126 , 130 ] and reestablish understory herbaceous vegetation [ 118 , 125 , 126 , 131 , 211 ], especially when native species seed reserves are depauperate [ 66 , 115 , 126 , 212 , 213 ]. However, these benefits are often assumed (i.e., the majority of mechanically treated P–J woodlands were also seeded [ 25 , 126 , 214 , 215 ]), and few studies have specifically isolated the benefits of P–J reduction alone versus the combined application of P–J reduction and seeding [ 40 , 89 , 193 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chaining is typically applied to sites with larger-diameter trees, higher tree cover, and degraded understory vegetation [ 121 , 122 ] and creates greater ground disturbance than mastication and cutting, which can in turn increase the density of invasive annual species [ 89 , 115 , 123 , 124 ]. Thus, chained sites are nearly always seeded and inherent soil disturbance associated with chaining is considered necessary to alter seed bed conditions and increase establishment of seeded species [ 95 , 125 , 126 , 127 , 128 , 129 , 130 , 131 , 132 , 133 , 134 , 135 ]. Mastication is also suitable for sites characterized by later stages of woodland development but is followed by seeding only if pretreatment understory conditions are degraded [ 40 , 60 , 89 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Understory Vegetation Change Following Woodland Reduction Varies by Plant Community Type and Seeding Status: A Region-Wide Assessment of Ecological Benefits and Risks

Monaco

Gunnell²

2020

Plants

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Woodland encroachment is a global issue linked to diminished ecosystem services, prompting the need for restoration efforts. However, restoration outcomes can be highly variable, making it difficult to interpret the ecological benefits and risks associated with woodland-reduction treatments within semiarid ecosystems. We addressed this uncertainty by assessing the magnitude and direction of vegetation change over a 15-year period at 129 sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) sites following pinyon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) (P–J) reduction. Pretreatment vegetation indicated strong negative relationships between P–J cover and the abundance of understory plants (i.e., perennial grass and sagebrush cover) in most situations and all three components differed significantly among planned treatment types. Thus, to avoid confounding pretreatment vegetation and treatment type, we quantified overall treatment effects and tested whether distinct response patterns would be present among three dominant plant community types that vary in edaphic properties and occur within distinct temperature/precipitation regimes using meta-analysis (effect size = lnRR = ln[posttreatment cover/pretreatment cover]). We also quantified how restoration seedings contributed to overall changes in key understory vegetation components. Meta-analyses indicated that while P–J reduction caused significant positive overall effects on all shrub and herbaceous components (including invasive cheatgrass [Bromus tectorum] and exotic annual forbs), responses were contingent on treatment- and plant community-type combinations. Restoration seedings also had strong positive effects on understory vegetation by augmenting changes in perennial grass and perennial forb components, which similarly varied by plant community type. Collectively, our results identified specific situations where broad-scale efforts to reverse woodland encroachment substantially met short-term management goals of restoring valuable ecosystem services and where P–J reduction disposed certain plant community types to ecological risks, such as increasing the probability of native species displacement and stimulating an annual grass-fire cycle. Resource managers should carefully weigh these benefits and risks and incorporate additional, appropriate treatments and/or conservation measures for the unique preconditions of a given plant community in order to minimize exotic species responses and/or enhance desirable outcomes.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understory Vegetation Change Following Woodland Reduction Varies by Plant Community Type and Seeding Status: A Region-Wide Assessment of Ecological Benefits and Risks

Monaco

Gunnell²

2020

Plants

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In contrast, compared to the fire treatment sites, which were commonly chained to incorporate seeds into the soil to improve plant establishment (Table S1; Madsen et al ), the mechanical treatments may have buried aerial‐ and broadcast‐dispersed seeds deeper, thus compromising seedling establishment and growth. Accordingly, by creating deep divots, the aerator treatment showed consistently lower species abundances compared to the other treatments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of fire and mechanical sagebrush reduction treatments on restoration seedings in Utah, United States

Wilder

Veblen

Gunnell³

et al. 2018

Restoration Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Overabundance of woody plants in semiarid ecosystems can degrade understory herbaceous vegetation and often requires shrub reduction and seeding to recover ecosystem services. We used meta-analysis techniques to assess the effects of fire and mechanical shrub reduction over two post-treatment timeframes (1-4 and 5-10 years) on changes in cover and frequency of 15 seeded species at 63 restoration sites with high potential for recovery. Compared to mechanical treatments, fire resulted in greater increases in seeded species. Native shrubs did not increase, and forbs generally declined over time; however, large increases in perennial grasses were observed, suggesting that seeding efforts contributed to enhanced understory herbaceous conditions. We found greater increases in a few non-native species than native species across all treatments, suggesting the possibility that interference among seeded species may have influenced results of this regional assessment. Differences among treatments and species were likely driven by seedbed conditions, which should be carefully considered in restoration planning. Site characteristics also dictated seeded species responses: while forbs showed greater increases in cover over the long term at higher elevation sites considered to be more resilient to disturbance, surprisingly, shrubs and grasses had greater increases in cover and frequency at lower elevation sites where resilience is typically much lower. Further research is needed to understand the causes of forb mortality over time, and to decipher how greater increases of non-native relative to native seeded species will influence species diversity and successional trajectories of restoration sites. in restoration outcomes among plant community types indicates that lower elevation, warm/dry temperature/moisture sites stand to gain the most from shrub treatment and seeding efforts. • While increases in seeded grasses were observed for all treatment types, relatively low performance of forbs exposes a fundamental shortfall for restoration practitioners in this ecosystem.

show abstract

“…While aerial seeding after wildfire can have limited success (Knutson et al, ), seeding in conjunction with chaining after wildfire or before tree mastication can greatly increase herbaceous vegetation cover (Bybee et al ., ; Juran, Roundy, & Davis, ; Ott, McArthur, & Roundy, ). Chaining may also break up soil water repellent layers in burned tree mounds and improve post‐fire seedling establishment (Madsen, Zvirzdin, Petersen, Hopkins, & Roundy, ). Besides proper seed burial, revegetation success is determined by adequate precipitation (Hardegree, Jones, Roundy, Shaw, & Monaco, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Runoff and sediment response to tree control and seeding on a high soil erosion potential site in Utah: evidence for reversal of an abiotic threshold

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Expansion of piñon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) trees into semi‐arid sagebrush steppe may cause these systems to pass a biotic threshold into weed dominance and recurrent fire, as well as pass an abiotic threshold of accelerated soil erosion. To determine effects of chaining to reduce trees and seeding to increase vegetation cover, we measured runoff and sediment after natural precipitation on 10 m2 intercanopy runoff plots on untreated and treated areas over a 5‐year period. The former sagebrush steppe study site was in an advanced phase of tree infilling before treatment and is underlain by lacustrine sediments with clay loam soils on moderate steep slopes. These characteristics, and the potential for high‐intensity thundershowers, make this site one of high soil erosion potential. Chaining‐seeding greatly increased vegetation cover from 4.5% on untreated plots to 23.5% on chained‐seeded plots by the first year after treatment. These cover increases were associated with runoff that was reduced from 44.2 to 9.4 L and sediment from 557.9 to 53.9 g from runoff plots, averaged over the 5 years. Piecewise regression indicated significant threshold decreases in runoff and sediment when vegetation cover exceeded 12 and 11%. High annual precipitation (53 cm) supported successful revegetation on this site in association with chaining and produced sufficient intercanopy cover to reverse an abiotic threshold of soil loss that is associated with advanced tree infilling. Tree reduction and restoration of intercanopy vegetation may have significant hydrologic benefits on sites with high erosion potential where piñon–juniper has expanded into sagebrush steppe.

show abstract

Anchor Chaining’s Influence on Soil Hydrology and Seeding Success in Burned Piñon-Juniper Woodlands

Cited by 8 publications

References 54 publications

Understory Vegetation Change Following Woodland Reduction Varies by Plant Community Type and Seeding Status: A Region-Wide Assessment of Ecological Benefits and Risks

Understory Vegetation Change Following Woodland Reduction Varies by Plant Community Type and Seeding Status: A Region-Wide Assessment of Ecological Benefits and Risks

Influence of fire and mechanical sagebrush reduction treatments on restoration seedings in Utah, United States

Runoff and sediment response to tree control and seeding on a high soil erosion potential site in Utah: evidence for reversal of an abiotic threshold

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About