Understory Plant Response to Site Preparation and Fertilization of Loblolly and Shortleaf Pine Forests

Abstract

In developing an improved understanding of the dynamics of understory plant composition and productivity in Coastal Plaii forest ecosystems, we examined the iniluence of site preparation and phosphorus fertilization on the successional trends of shrubs and herbaceous plants growing on lands of widely ranging subsoil texture in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas which are managed for southern pine production. Burn-inject, chop-burn, chop-burn-disk, double-chop, shear-burn, shear-windrow, and shear-windrow-disk site preparation methods were applied in a completely randomized split-plot design to sites with subsoil textures consisting of loam, gravelly-clay, silt, silty-clay, and clay, both fertilized with 73.4 kg P/ha and unfertlliied. Site preparation method, subsoil texture, and fertilixation iniluenced production of paspalums and other forbs the fmt growing season following treatment, but no treatment combination affected plant groups in subsequent years. Total herbaceous production increased 24 to 35fold over pretreatment levels the llrst growing season after treatment. While site preparation methods had little intluence on herbaceous biomass, subsoil texture affected herbaceous production the first year aDer treatment, with loam subsoils being most productive. Although annual composites were the most abundant herbaceous group the first year after treatment, they were largely replaced by perennial grasses by the third post-treatment growing season. By the seventh growing season following treatment, herbaceous production declined on all subsoil textures with composition and yield approximating pretreatment estimates. Subsoil texture influenced shrub density The authors express their appreciation to Boise Cascade,

Changes in vegetation structure and composition in response to fuel reduction treatments in the South Carolina Piedmont

“…All life forms exhibited immediate responses to treatment with herbaceous vegetation showing the greatest gains. However, from year 1 to year 3, forb cover had decreased approximately 50% while graminoid abundance continued to increase, similar to results obtained by Brockway et al (1998) for P. taeda and P. echinata forests in the Gulf Coastal Plain following site preparation treatments.…”

Mechanical soil disturbance in a pine savanna has multiyear effects on plant species composition

“…Evidence includes the observation that species relative dominance following a single disking event remained distinct from that of the undisturbed community even nine years following the disturbance. The relatively low difference in species composition and species richness between single‐disturbance and undisturbed plots is attributable to some propagules of even the most soil disturbance‐sensitive species surviving the disturbance (Brockway et al, 1998; Conde et al, 1983; Crouch et al, 2022; Greenberg et al, 1995; Outcalt & Lewis, 1990). In the repeated‐disturbance plots, species richness increased quickly from a nearly unvegetated state to matching richness of the other treatments, but this was partially attributable to their larger numbers of ruderal species compensating for the absence or low frequency of disturbance‐sensitive species.…”

“…In addition to the spatial extent of soil disturbance, intensity and frequency of soil disturbance may strongly influence subsequent changes in perennial herbaceous plant communities. Certain perennial plants in southeastern US pine communities are capable of surviving considerable physical damage by resprouting from remnant root or stem propagules (Brockway et al, 1998; Conde et al, 1983; Crouch et al, 2022; Greenberg et al, 1995; Outcalt & Lewis, 1990; Willcox & Giuliano, 2010). However, there is evidence that as soil disturbance intensity or frequency increases, these plants are less likely to survive (Crouch et al, 2022; Moore & Swindel, 1981; Outcalt & Lewis, 1990).…”

Effect of Phosphate Fertilization on Flooding Pampa Grasslands (Argentina)

“…In humid or subhumid rangelands, phosphate fertilization drastically increases biomass production when legumes are an important component of the community (Henkin et al 1996;Osman et al 1999), lightly increases production when legumes are a minor component of rangeland community (Nichols et al 1990;Brockway et al 1998), and doesn't affect production when grasses are dominant (Kalmbachet and Martin 1996). At the Flooding Pampa, there is no conclusive evidence.…”