Effects of fire on belowground biomass in Chihuahuan desert grassland

Burnett, Shayla A.; Hattey, Jeffory A.; Johnson, Jennifer E.; Swann, Amaris L.; Moore, Douglas I.; Collins, Scott L.

doi:10.1890/es12-00248.1

Cited by 8 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Likewise, increases in labile compounds and soil moisture can stimulate microbes to produce enzymes (Dorodnikov et al 2009, Gonzalez-Polo andAustin 2009), and enzyme activities increased shortly after early season rainfall. At the end of the season, soil nutrient resources presumably change as root production of the dominant grass decreases (Burnett et al 2012), and enzyme activities greatly decreased following the final rain event.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, based on ratios between enzymes, N and P availability was lower within interspaces soils, particularly in the middle of the season. For our dominant grasses, roots generally do not extend past the aboveground canopy (Burnett et al 2012) and plants utilize resources in interspace soils via fungal connections between interspaces to plant roots , Marusenko et al 2013). Although our methods cannot distinguish whether enzymes were created by plants or microbes, due to this spatial separation between plant roots and crust soils, interspace activities were primarily from microbial generated enzymes which received little to no root exudate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Both plants and microbes make extracellular enzymes, and our methods could not distinguish if plants or microbes produced the enzymes we measured. Because the majority of grass roots occur directly under aboveground biomass (Burnett et al 2012), enzymes in the interspace were predominantly microbial-generated and presumably received considerably less exudate from plant roots. For each sample, four surface soil cores (1 cm diameter, 3 cm deep) were collected across each plot and combined for a representative assessment of soils within the plot.…”

Section: Experimental Field Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soil enzyme responses to varying rainfall regimes in Chihuahuan Desert soils

et al. 2015

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Abstract. Extracellular enzyme activities (EEAs) are indicators of both soil microbial activity and nutrient availability for plants. However, it is unclear how EEAs change over the growing season in desert grasslands. We examined whether EEAs changed in response to the size and frequency of rain events during the summer monsoon in the northern Chihuahuan Desert, and if the response varied between plant and interspace associated soils. Potential EEAs were measured within a rainfall manipulation experiment at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in central New Mexico, USA. Rainfall treatments included either three 10-mm events or one 30-mm rain event per month throughout the three month summer monsoon (July-September). EEAs were measured immediately before and within hours after experimental rain events under plants and in unvegetated interspaces. Throughout the season hydrolase activities were higher under vegetation than in interspace soils. Potential activities of hydrolytic enzymes were similar for the two rainfall regimes. Activities increased following early season rain, showed little response to midseason rain, and decreased following late-season rain. Although enzyme activities did not differ between rainfall treatments, ratios between enzymes varied, indicating different nutrient limitations imposed by rain event size and frequency. Larger nitrogen and phosphorus limitations occurred in interspace soils that experienced large, frequent rain events. Many factors, including location relative to plants, seasonality, and rainfall size and frequency, influenced enzyme activities and nutrient availability in these Chihuahuan Desert soils throughout the monsoon season.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Experimental Field Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soil enzyme responses to varying rainfall regimes in Chihuahuan Desert soils

et al. 2015

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“…Although even following extensive drought, plants respond quickly to adequate precipitation (Pennington and Collins 2007). Unlike aboveground production, belowground production by B. eriopoda is not influenced by fire (Burnett et al 2012). Therefore, roots can immediately utilize available moisture following rain events.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chihuahuan Desert Grassland Responds Similarly to Fall, Spring, and Summer Fires During Prolonged Drought

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Collins

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et al. 2014

Rangeland Ecology & Management

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“…; Burnett et al . ). Prescribed burning and mowing can have similar impacts on plant responses related to the life forms (Peet et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Response of degraded vegetation to introduction of prescribed burning or mowing management in a Mongolian steppe

et al. 2015

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The understanding of the effectiveness of prescribed burning and mowing as restoration tools of degraded grasslands is important for dryland rangeland management. We examined the effects of spring prescribed burning or seasonal mowing treatments on the degraded vegetation dominated by an unpalatable subshrub, Artemisia adamsii, in grazed Mongolian steppe. Spring burning was conducted in 2013, and three types of mowing treatments (spring, previous summer, and previous summer and autumn) were conducted with varying seasons and frequency, respectively. Soil samples were collected immediately after the spring treatments. Four months after the spring treatments, total plant biomass, the numbers of flowering shoots and florets per shoot of A. adamsii were compared among the treatments. Plant biomass was divided into A. adamsii and herbaceous plants (forbs and graminoids) with different Raunkiaer life forms (chamaephytes, hemicryptophytes and geophytes). Soil properties and total plant biomass were not different among the treatments. For A. adamsii, the biomass and number of flowering shoots were decreased by spring burning and growing-season mowing, owing to the disappearance of woody-shoots of A. adamsii. On the other hand, spring mowing had less negative impact on the biomass of A. adamsii due to an increase of the newly-formed shoots. The biomass of perennial herbaceous-plants was not affected by spring burning, regardless of the life form, whereas that of the geophytic sedge Carex duriuscula increased in the summer-and-autumn mowing. Thus, spring burning and growing-season mowing have the potential to control undesirable subshrubs due to loss of the woody shoots, while spring mowing may not be recommended as a useful management tool in the Mongolian steppe. Our results emphasize that the introduction of these management tools for degradedgrassland restoration in dryland rangelands needs more long-term evaluation considering the relation with external factors such as climate variation and grazing impact.

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Effects of fire on belowground biomass in Chihuahuan desert grassland

Cited by 8 publications

References 64 publications

Soil enzyme responses to varying rainfall regimes in Chihuahuan Desert soils

Soil enzyme responses to varying rainfall regimes in Chihuahuan Desert soils

Chihuahuan Desert Grassland Responds Similarly to Fall, Spring, and Summer Fires During Prolonged Drought

Response of degraded vegetation to introduction of prescribed burning or mowing management in a Mongolian steppe

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