Responses of a Riparian Forest-Floor Arthropod Community to Wildfire in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico

Bess, Emilie; Parmenter, Robert; Mccoy, Stacey; Molles, Manuel C.

doi:10.1603/0046-225x-31.5.774

Cited by 42 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Low rates of sprouting are typical for Populus fremontii and related species (Gom and Rood 1999), while higher rates are typical for Salix gooddingii (Busch 1995;Ellis 2001). The high post-fire resprout rates observed for Tamarix and Prosopis velutina along the San Pedro also are a common pattern for these multi-stemmed, shrubby taxa (Ellis 2001;Bess et al 2002;Drewa 2003;Bock et al 2007). Other patterns differ from findings observed on dammed and flow-regulated rivers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Effects of Fire on Riparian Forests Along a Free-Flowing Dryland River

Stromberg

Rychener

2009

Wetlands

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Riparian fire studies in the American Southwest have focused on flow-regulated rivers and typically show increase in introduced Tamarix, a species with high resprout capacity, and declines in Populus. Effects of fire, however, can vary with environmental setting. We examined riparian fire along the free-flowing Upper San Pedro River (Arizona) by making temporal comparisons supplemented by spatial contrasts between burned and unburned sites. Pre-fire, Populus fremontii and Salix gooddingii were dominant species, with Tamarix sparse in the understory. Species differed in mortality and resprout rates, producing post-fire vegetation change. Mortality was highest for Tamarix, intermediate for Salix, and lowest for Populus, and also varied among size classes. Resprout rate was low for Populus, high for Salix, and also high for the few surviving Tamarix. The net effect was changes in population size structure (relative shifts towards larger Populus but smaller individuals of other species) and forest composition (decreased abundance of Tamarix relative to Populus and Salix), and in spatial distribution of stems. Tamarix's low ability to survive fire resulted from competitive suppression by Populus and Salix, with their dominance a product of the site's flow regime. Results indicate that post-fire outcomes within the riparian Southwest are variable and context-dependent.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Effects of Fire on Riparian Forests Along a Free-Flowing Dryland River

Stromberg

Rychener

2009

Wetlands

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“…Bess et al (2002) studied the response of the arthropod community to a wildfire on the Middle Rio Grande, New Mexico. The organic litter layer was reduced to mineral ash and all above ground vegetation was killed.…”

Section: Effects Of Firementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Busch and Smith (1992) speculated that saltcedar, as a fire-tolerant species, might have developed adaptive traits that enhace the flammability of the communities they invade, as a competitive strategy. However, not only saltcedar, but also cottonwood and willow, can recover by stump-sprouting after fire (Gom and Rood, 1999;Fonda, 2001;Bess et al, 2002). Therefore, fire does not lead to an immediate and irrecoverable loss of native trees from an affected area.…”

Section: Effects Of Firementioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative ecophysiology of Tamarix ramosissima and native trees in western U.S. riparian zones

Glenn

Nagler

2005

Journal of Arid Environments

204

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“…Subtle differences in foliar nutrient composition or litter layer recovery (e.g. Bess et al, 2002) may partly explain differences in terrestrial invertebrate inputs between low-severity and unburned streams. For instance, at these same study sites Jackson (2009) observed that nitrogen concentrations in plant tissues from low-severity burned reaches were low whereas d 15 N values remained high when compared to unburned sites.…”

Section: Invertebrate Inputsmentioning

confidence: 99%