Tag: Prairie

Landscape Patterns in Soil-Plant Water Relations and Primary Production in Tallgrass Prairie

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Author: Knapp, A. K.; Fahnestock, J. T.; Hamburg, S. P.; Statland, L. B.; Seastedt, T. R.; Schimel, D. S. Description: Landscape variation in soil water relations, leaf xylem pressure potential (°) and leaf-level net photosynthesis (A) in Andropogon gerardii, and net primary production (NPP) were evaluated during the 1989 and 1990 growing seasons in a northeast Kansas (USA) tallgrass prairie. Landscape patterns were assessed along transects that spanned upland and lowland topographic positions in an annually burned and a long-term unburned watershed. Landscape variability in volumetric soil water content (°)…

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The Keystone Role of Bison in North American Tallgrass Prairie

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Author: Knapp, Alan K.; Blair, John M.; Briggs, John M.; Collins, Scott L.; Hartnett, David C.; Johnson, Loretta C.; Towne, E. Gene Description: Observations of the influence of bison on tallgrass prairie were carried out at Konza Prairie Research Natural Area in the Flint Hills of northeastern Kansas since 1987, when 30 bison were reintroduced. The herd was allowed to increase until 1992 and has been maintained at about 200 animals since then. The herd was given unrestricted access to a 1012-ha portion of the prairie. It is concluded from…

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Fire and Grazing Regulate Belowground Processes in Tallgrass Prairie

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Author: Johnson, Loretta C.; Matchett, John R. Description: In tallgrass prairie, belowground processes are even more important than in forested systems because aboveground biomass and standing dead litter are periodically removed by frequent fires or grazers. Thus, studies that address factors regulating belowground processes are especially relevant for tallgrass prairie. We predicted that effects of grazing and burning differ belowground and that changes in root productivity caused by burning or grazing provide feedback that affects ecosystem fluxes of C and N. These differences in belowground response should be driven largely…

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Fire and Litter Effects in Undisturbed Bluestem Prairie in Kansas

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Author: Hulbert, Lloyd C. Description: Two-by-two-meter plots of undisturbed, nearly pure Andropogon gerardi prairie were subjected to four treatments: burning, clipping and removal of the litter, burning the clipped litter and returning the ash, and the control (natural litter). Treatments were started in early April before growth began. Differences in results among the denuded plots were small and nonsignificant, but highly significant differences were found between denuded and control plots. Tiller number was increased 1.5 to 2.7 times by removal of litter. Growth began earlier in denuded than control plots….

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Succession and Fire Season in Experimental Prairie Plantings

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Author: Howe, Henry F. Description: Fire season influenced the cover of species and flowering guilds of plants in replicated grass and forb plantings of tallgrass prairie species in Wisconsin. Over two burn cycles at 3-yr intervals, cover increased in the rhizomatous perennials Andropogon gerardii, Aster simplex and Solidago altissima in plots burned in spring, or summer, or left unburned, but cover showed dramatic positive or negative responses to spring or summer burns in Agropyron repens, Erigeron annuus, Panicum virgatum, Phalaris arundinacea, and Rudbeckia hirta. Aggregate response of flowering guilds was…

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Managing Species Diversity in Tallgrass Prairie: Assumptions and Implications

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Author: Howe, Henry F. Description: Conservation and restoration ecology efforts may conserve or restore a particular image of a community, a variety of plausible images, or maximum biological diversity. The choice is a policy decision that should reflect relevant history and sound science. Here I argue that common methods of conserving and restoring tallgrass prairie have a weak scientific rationale, are not consistent with plausible history, and threaten prairie biodiversity. Dormant-season burns and grazer exclusion are human interventions that may promote artificially consistent dominance of large grasses utilizing the C4…

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Disturbance, Diversity, and Invasion: Implications for Conservation

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Author: Hobbs, Richard J.; Huenneke, Laura F. Description: Disturbance is an important component of many ecosystems, and variations in disturbance regime can affect ecosystem and community structure and functioning. The “intermediate disturbance hypothesis” suggests that species diversity should be highest at moderate levels of disturbance. However, disturbance is also known to increase the invasibility of communities. Disturbance therefore poses an important problem for conservation management. Here, we review the effects of disturbances such as fire, grazing, soil disturbance and nutrient addition on plant species diversity and invasion with particular emphasis…

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Plant Response to Herbivory and Belowground Nitrogen Cycling

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Author: Holland, Elizabeth A.; Detling, James K. Description: Plant responses to herbivory and links to belowground nitrogen cycling were investigated at Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota. Laboratory estimates of net nitrogen mineralization were highest in soils from the more altered areas of prairie dog colonies (Cynomys ludovicianus) and lowest in the adjacent, lightly grazed, uncolonized grassland. The ratio of CO2: net nitrogen mineralized, as index of immobilization, was highest in the uncolonized grassland and lowest in the altered core areas. Soil moisture was an important modifier of in situ…

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Numbers and Biomass of Selected Insect Groups on Burned and Unburned Sand Prairie

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Author: Anderson, Roger C.; Leahy, Theresa; Dhillion, Shivcharn S. Description: Abundance and biomass of selected insect groups were sampled on adjacent burned and unburned sand prairie for 3 years following a single spring burn. The abundance of all insects combined was significantly lower on the burned site than on the unburned site in the 1st yr postburn but not in subsequent years of the study. Of the selected insect groups, ants were significantly (P < 0.05) more abundant on the burned site than the unburned site for the 1st yr…

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