Vegetation Responses to Prescribed Burning of Grazed Shortgrass Steppe |
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| Authors: | David J. Augustine Daniel G. Milchunas |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Research Ecologist, US Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service (USDA–ARS), Rangeland Resources Research Unit, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA;2. Research Scientist, Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship Department and Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA;1. Assistant Professor, Department of Animal & Range Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA;2. Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Benedictine College, Atchison, KS 66002, USA;3. Small Game Coordinator, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, & Tourism, Emporia, KS 66801, USA;4. Professor, Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA;1. Research Ecologist, USDA-ARS Rangeland Resources Research Unit, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA;2. Research Scientist, Forest and Rangeland Stewardship Department and Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA;3. Research Leader and Rangeland Scientist, USDA-ARS Rangeland Resources Research Unit, Cheyenne, WY 82009, USA;1. Agricultural Science Research Technician, US Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, Rangeland Resources Research Unit, Cheyenne, WY 82001, USA;2. Ecologist, US Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory, Miles City, MT 59301, USA;3. Nutritionist, US Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory, Miles City, MT 59301, USA;4. Assistant Professor, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA;1. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA;2. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Oregon State University, Hermiston, OR 97838, USA;3. Bee Biology and Systematics Laboratory, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA |
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| Abstract: | Over the past century, fire has been widely suppressed in the western Great Plains, in part because of the potential negative effects on forage production for livestock. More recently, interest in the use of prescribed fire in shortgrass steppe has increased because of the potential applications for wildlife management, control of unpalatable plant species, and restoration of historic disturbance regimes. We studied the effects of prescribed burns conducted during late winter on herbaceous production, forage nitrogen content, and plant species composition of shortgrass steppe on the Pawnee National Grassland in northeastern Colorado. Late-winter burns conducted in moderately grazed sites under a wide range of precipitation conditions during 1997–2001 did not negatively affect herbaceous production in either the first or the second postburn growing season. Burning followed by a severe drought in 2002 reduced production by 19% in the second postburn growing season of 2003. Burns temporarily suppressed the abundance of broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae) and prickly pear cactus (Opuntia polyacantha) and enhanced forage nitrogen content during May and June of the first postburn growing season. These findings suggest that, except following severe drought, prescribed burns conducted during late winter in grazed shortgrass steppe for objectives unrelated to livestock production can also have neutral or positive consequences for livestock. |
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