Season of fire and nutrient enrichment affect plant community dynamics in subtropical semi-natural grasslands released from agriculture

Boughton, Elizabeth H.; Bohlen, Patrick J.; Steele, Christen

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2012.09.023

Cited by 24 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…4: 171-176 Plant Soil Environ. doi: 10.17221/64/2017 minor or less competitive species through the removal of accumulated litter and increased species diversity (Boughton et al 2013), very frequent fire also reduced species diversity if just a few large grasses came to dominate the community (Collins and Calabrese 2012). Our study showed that burning decreased the species diversity by 7.4%; there are two possible explanations (Figure 3a).…”

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confidence: 63%

Effects of fertilization, burning, and grazing on plant community in the long-term fenced grasslands

Jing¹,

Li²,

Yu³

et al. 2017

PLANT SOIL ENVIRON

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Fencing is the common management practice to restore degraded grasslands. However, long-term fencing decreases grassland productivity and species diversity. The study was therefore conducted as a three-year (2011–2013) experiment with a randomized complete block in a grassland fenced for 20 years in the Loess Plateau of China, and the effects of fertilization, burning and grazing on aboveground biomass, species and functional group composition, species and some functional group diversity were analysed. Our results showed that the functional group of perennial bunchgrasses dominated the grassland regardless of management practices. However, burning altered species composition (i.e. the unpalatable species, Artemisia sacrorum) more significantly than fertilization or grazing, and surprisingly, nearly quadrupled the functional group of shrubs and semi-shrubs. Fertilization had a positive effect on the aboveground biomass (44.0%), while clearly reducing species diversity (21.9%). Grazing decreased aboveground biomass, but increased species diversity by 15.9%. This study indicated that fertilization influenced plant community through its impact on aboveground biomass, while burning changed plant community by altering dominant species. Thus, it was concluded that fertilizer could further improve community biomass while burning reduced the edibility of grass. Grazing could be carried out to enhance the biodiversity in the long-term fenced grasslands.

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confidence: 63%

Effects of fertilization, burning, and grazing on plant community in the long-term fenced grasslands

Jing¹,

Li²,

Yu³

et al. 2017

PLANT SOIL ENVIRON

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“…; Spasojevic et al . ; Boughton, Bohlen & Steele ). However, vegetation may not change rapidly when conditions result in plant assemblages that are species poor or dominated by slow responding species such as J. effusus (Browning and Archer ; Davies et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other studies have found that grazing exclosures, draining and fire suppression favour recruitment of trees and shrubs (Peroni & Abrahamson ; Landman & Menges ; Middleton, Holsten & Diggelen ). Season of burn can also affect shrub abundance (Watts & Tanner ; Boughton, Bohlen & Steele ). We burned wetlands in the dormant season (February) to mimic ranching practices, but results may differ if prescribed fires were conducted in the natural May/June burn season, which appears to reduce shrubs more effectively than winter burns (Watts & Tanner ; Boughton, Bohlen & Steele ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactive effects of pasture management intensity, release from grazing and prescribed fire on forty subtropical wetland plant assemblages

Boughton¹,

Quintana‐Ascencio

Bohlen

et al. 2015

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary Pasture management intensity, livestock grazing and prescribed fire are three widespread agricultural practices that affect small, isolated wetlands, but few studies have investigated their individual and interactive effects. Pasture management intensity refers to the degree of human alteration of grassland, ranging from intensively managed pastures planted with introduced forage, fertilizer/lime additions and artificial drainage to semi‐natural pastures with mixed native and non‐native vegetation, no fertilizer/lime additions and little or no artificial drainage. We examined individual and interactive effects of these three agricultural practices on individual, isolated wetlands using a replicated, full‐factorial experiment on 40 entire wetlands in south Florida, USA. Wetlands were embedded in two pasture management intensities: intensively managed and semi‐natural. After three years of treatment initiation, vegetation of wetlands released from grazing and unburned embedded in semi‐natural pastures had significantly lower evenness and coefficient of conservatism scores compared to wetlands released from grazing and burned, grazed unburned wetlands and grazed burned wetlands in the same pasture management intensity. For wetlands embedded in intensively managed pastures, evenness and coefficient of conservatism scores did not differ among treatments. Release from grazing increased abundance of the native, weedy herb, Eupatorium capillifolium. Grazing interacted with prescribed fire to affect shrub abundance and non‐native richness; relative abundance of shrubs and non‐native richness were greater in wetlands released from grazing and burned and did not differ among burn treatments in grazed wetlands. Interactive effects, especially three‐way interactions, were uncommon and not as important as differences between the two pasture management intensities. Synthesis and applications. Vegetation diversity and floristic quality of wetlands embedded in intensively managed pastures resisted common restoration management techniques such as release from grazing and prescribed fire, at least in the short term. In contrast, removing all top‐down disturbances from wetlands embedded in semi‐natural grasslands can negatively affect vegetation species diversity and floristic quality. Future studies should examine how intensity and seasonality of grazing and prescribed fire affect wetland vegetation, and track long‐term responses to evaluate lag effects.

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“…Although we expected diversity to increase as a result of competitive release (Boughton, Bohlen, & Steele, ), fires failed to increase diversity as predicted in H2. This can be attributed to the low‐intensity nature of the burns and the short duration of the study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Semi‐arid savanna herbaceous production and diversity responses to interactive effects of drought, nitrogen deposition, and fire

Hannusch

Rogers

Lodge

et al. 2020

J Vegetation Science

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Question Savannas are globally widespread and furnish a variety of ecological services through their structural heterogeneity. Unfortunately, those essential ecosystem services are threatened by climate changes including expected increases in duration of drought and nitrogen deposition. The objective of this study was to determine how overall herbaceous production, functional group production and diversity respond in the short‐term to interactions between forecasted environmental conditions and prescribed fires. Location Western Edwards Plateau, Texas (latitude 31°N, longitude 100°W). Methods We randomly assigned full‐factorial treatment combinations of rainout shelters, simulated nitrogen deposition and prescribed fires to field plots in an herbaceous‐dominated area of a semi‐arid savanna. Aboveground net primary productivity (assessed via destructive harvest) and diversity (using Shannon’s index) were assessed as indicators of ecosystem functioning. Results Total aboveground net primary production was reduced by fire in the short‐term (4 months), and reduced by drought at 8 months, but drought reductions were later overridden by lagged responses to large precipitation events (12 months). Forb production increased in response to nitrogen addition (8 months) and drought (12 months), but decreased as a result of fire (12 months). Live grass production was consistently reduced by drought. Plant species diversity was positively responsive to nitrogen addition, particularly in the absence of drought. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the concentrated precipitation events that are forecasted to follow extended droughts may aid rapid recovery of drought‐induced production decreases. In addition, the small‐scale diversity of this semi‐arid savanna may be driven more by resource availability than light‐competition in the short‐term. Managers and ecologists can use these results to help disentangle the ecosystem functioning that may be observed in the presence of future droughts, nitrogen deposition and prescribed fire. Understanding these processes will be key to protecting the integrity of savannas.

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Season of fire and nutrient enrichment affect plant community dynamics in subtropical semi-natural grasslands released from agriculture

Cited by 24 publications

References 42 publications

Effects of fertilization, burning, and grazing on plant community in the long-term fenced grasslands

Effects of fertilization, burning, and grazing on plant community in the long-term fenced grasslands

Interactive effects of pasture management intensity, release from grazing and prescribed fire on forty subtropical wetland plant assemblages

Semi‐arid savanna herbaceous production and diversity responses to interactive effects of drought, nitrogen deposition, and fire

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