Rapid and transient changes during 20 years of restoration management in savanna-woodland-prairie habitats threatened by woody plant encroachment

Abella, Scott R.; Menard, Karen S.; Schetter, Timothy A.; Sprow, LaRae A.; Jaeger, John F.

doi:10.1007/s11258-020-01075-4

Cited by 15 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Previous research with Rhus copallinum found that burning promoted photosynthetic activity, especially when soil disturbance occurred, and that heat stimulated seed germination (Freeman et al, 2004; Bolin, 2009). It is also noteworthy that total plant cover in the understorey was not higher on burned sites, contrasting with sharp increases occurring within 3–6 years post‐fire in oak savannas–woodlands without a recent history of cultivation where fire stimulates profuse shrub and tree sprouting (Abella, Menard, et al, 2020). Our finding of some differences between unburned and burned cultivated sites, but general multivariate similarity, represents less variation than Khanina et al (2018) reported on abandoned agricultural lands in Russia, where burning produced drastically different communities (grassland with and forest without fire).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some of the state‐listed species included the shrub Comptonia peregrina and the perennial forbs Lupinus perennis and Helianthemum canadense , which are thought to have been abundant in pre‐settlement savannas (Brewer & Vankat, 2004). On the contemporary landscape, these species are frequent in savannas restored in the last 2–3 decades using tree thinning and prescribed fires (Abella, Menard, et al, 2020). Other species that were significant indicators and contributed to unique community composition in formerly cultivated sites that have also inhabited (though at low covers) restored savannas–woodlands include Apocynum cannabinum , Hieracium spp., Amelanchier arborea , Danthonia spicata , and Dichanthelium oligosanthes (Abella, Menard, et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the contemporary landscape, these species are frequent in savannas restored in the last 2-3 decades using tree thinning and prescribed fires (Abella, Menard, et al, 2020). Other species that were significant indicators and contributed to unique community composition in formerly cultivated sites that have also inhabited (though at low covers) restored savannas-woodlands include Apocynum cannabinum, Hieracium spp., Amelanchier arborea, Danthonia spicata, and Dichanthelium oligosanthes (Abella, Menard, et al, 2020). While pre-settlement open habitats (Brewer & Vankat, 2004), presence of non-vascular communities as biocrust, enhanced plant species diversity relative to continuously forested sites, and abundance of conservation priority endangered plants.…”

Section: Are Formerly Cultivated Sites Surrogates For Lost Open Habit...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variation in characteristics and conservation values of plant communities on abandoned agricultural lands with and without fires

Abella

Schetter

2021

Applied Vegetation Science

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Question Which plant community characteristics most consistently vary with prior land use? Location Oak Openings Preserve, Ohio, USA. Methods In 2020, we measured plant communities on 22 sites encompassing three prior land uses: (a) contemporary Quercus forests continuously forested since before the 1930s; (b) former agricultural lands, under cultivation in the 1930s and abandoned 70–80 years before our study and that were unburned; and (c) former agricultural lands also abandoned 70–80 years earlier and that were burned in 2013 prescribed fires. Among the three land uses, we compared 12 plant community variables, categorized into four groups characterizing different sets of community properties (structure, diversity, composition, and conservation values). Results A multivariate combination of the 12 community variables differed among all three land uses, each of the four categories of variables differed between at least two land uses, and eight of 12 individual variables differed between at least two land uses. Community structure displayed a gradient of decreasing tree canopy and understorey plant cover and increasing lichen–moss cover from continuously forested to unburned and burned formerly cultivated sites. Understorey plant species richness did not vary with land use, but species diversity was higher on cultivated sites, irrespective of fire history. While all three land uses now contain Quercus tree overstories, each land use exhibited unique understorey species composition. Only formerly cultivated sites contained state‐listed endangered species. Cultivated sites had a lower proportion of native species cover than did continuously forested sites, but native species still comprised over 90% of the plant cover on cultivated sites. Compared with continuous forests, the soil organic layer (O horizon) was five times thinner and loss on ignition in the 0–15 cm mineral soil 49% (unburned) and 66% (burned) lower on previously cultivated sites. Conclusions Community characteristics varied in their sensitivity to land use history, with species composition among the most sensitive to prior land use. A dense sapling layer of Acer rubrum forming in long‐unburned Quercus forests across much of eastern North America was absent in our study on formerly cultivated sites, possibly due to dry, infertile soil. From a restoration and conservation standpoint of the study region's pre‐settlement, frequently burned and open savannas and woodlands, previously cultivated sites may be easier to keep open via prescribed fire. Moreover, perhaps precisely because much of the flora historically developed in open savannas and woodlands which previously cultivated sites on the contemporary landscape most closely mimicked, previously cultivated sites presently contain higher species diversity and more conservation priority species than do continuously forested sites.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Are Formerly Cultivated Sites Surrogates For Lost Open Habit...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variation in characteristics and conservation values of plant communities on abandoned agricultural lands with and without fires

Abella

Schetter

2021

Applied Vegetation Science

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“…2021, 13, 3397 of 21 pixel value is 45,000, the surface temperature is 29.6609 • C; the thermal band of Landsat 8 used in this study is band 10). [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] were Level 1 products of Sentinel-2 images and geometrically corrected. All Sentinel-2 images were then radiometrically and atmospherically corrected using the Sen2Cor toolbox from SNAP software provided by the European Space Agency (ESA), and resampled to a spatial resolution of 30 m.…”

Section: Landsat Images For Temporal Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Native prairie management requires recurrent disturbance by prescription or by managing natural disturbances [5,14]. Management options include prescribed fire [5], prescribed modification of grazing intensity [15], the re-establishment of native species [5,16], herbicide application on invasive species [17,18], abandonment of cultivation lands [19], and grazing reintroduction [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Impact of Grazing Cessation and Reintroduction in Mixed Prairie Using Raster Time Series Analysis of Landsat Data

Harder

et al. 2021

Remote Sensing

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Great efforts have been made to manage and restore native prairies to protect native species, enrich biodiversity, protect ecological resilience, and maintain ecosystem services. Much of this has been focused on preventing degradation from overgrazing and crop conversion. Understanding the consequences of management polices is important to identify best practices. Previous research has compared restoration outcomes from variable intensity grazing, prescribed fire, and grazing removal. However, few studies have explored the optimal durations of management practices and variation in restoration outcomes among vegetation communities. This study evaluates whether the impact of grazing cessation and reintroduction varies among native vegetation communities and measures the effective time periods of grazing cessation and reintroduction. Restoration outcomes were evaluated using four biophysical indicators (fresh biomass, soil organic matter, green cover, and litter cover) and two vegetation indices (normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference water index (NDWI)) measured from Landsat images using seasonal Kalman filter and raster time series analysis. The results show that: (i) Grazing cessation increased soil organic matter and green cover while decreasing fresh biomass compared to moderate grazing management, while grazing reintroduction influences those indicators in an opposite direction; (ii) The effective time period for prairie conservation is about 11–14 years and varies among vegetation communities and biophysical indicators; (iii) The effective intensity of grazing cessation is highest in valley grassland, moderate in upland grassland, and mildest in sloped grassland; (iv) Grazing reintroduction returned the three native vegetation communities to the initial condition (i.e., the stage in 1985 before large grazers were removed), with less time than the time consumed for grazing cessation to restore the prairie ecosystem to the maximum changes; (v) Grazing reintroduction effectively influences upland and valley grasslands for 7 to 9 years, varying from different indicators, while it continuously affected sloped grassland with no clear time lag; (vi) The intensity of grazing reintroduction was strongest in sloped grassland, moderate in upland grassland, and mildest in valley grassland. The results of this study suggest expected time periods for prairie management methods to achieve results.

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Sustaining eastern oak forests: Synergistic effects of fire and topography on vegetation and fuels

Hutchinson,

Adams,

Dickinson

et al. 2024

Ecological Applications

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Across much of the eastern United States, oak forests are undergoing mesophication as shade‐tolerant competitors become more abundant and suppress oak regeneration. Given the historical role of anthropogenic surface fires in promoting oak dominance, prescribed fire has become important in efforts to reverse mesophication and sustain oaks. In 2000 we established the Ohio Hills Fire and Fire Surrogate (FFS) study to examine whether repeated prescribed fire (Fire), mechanical partial harvest (Mech), and their combined application (Mech + Fire) reduced the dominance of subcanopy mesophytic competitors, increased the abundance of large oak–hickory advance regeneration, created a more diverse and productive ground‐layer flora, and produced fuel beds more conducive to prescribed fire, reducing the risk of high‐severity wildfire. Here we report on the ~20‐year effects of treatments on vegetation and fuels and examine the support for interactive effects across a topographic‐moisture and energy gradient. In general, we found that Fire and Mech + Fire treatments tended to reverse mesophication while the Mech‐only treatment did not. The moderate and occasionally high‐intensity fires resulted in effects that were ultimately very similar between the two fire treatments but were modulated by topography with increasing fire severity on drier sites. In particular, we found support for an interaction effect between treatment and topography on forest structure and tree regeneration responses. Fire generally reduced mesophytic tree density in the midstory and sapling strata across all site conditions, while leading to substantial gains in the abundance of large oak–hickory advance regeneration on dry and intermediate landscape positions. Fire also promoted ground‐layer diversity and created compositionally distinct communities across all site conditions, primarily through the increased richness of native perennial herbs. However, the fire had limited effects on fine surface fuel loading and increased the loading of large woody fuels, potentially increasing the risk of high‐severity wildfire during drought conditions. We conclude that two decades of repeated fires, with and without mechanical density reduction, significantly shifted the trajectory of mesophication across most of the landscape, particularly on dry and intermediate sites, highlighting the capacity of a periodic fire regime to sustain eastern oak forests and promote plant diversity but modulated by topography.

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Rapid and transient changes during 20 years of restoration management in savanna-woodland-prairie habitats threatened by woody plant encroachment

Cited by 15 publications

References 51 publications

Variation in characteristics and conservation values of plant communities on abandoned agricultural lands with and without fires

Variation in characteristics and conservation values of plant communities on abandoned agricultural lands with and without fires

Evaluating the Impact of Grazing Cessation and Reintroduction in Mixed Prairie Using Raster Time Series Analysis of Landsat Data

Sustaining eastern oak forests: Synergistic effects of fire and topography on vegetation and fuels

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