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dc.contributor.authorMcDonald, Christopher J.
dc.contributor.authorMcPherson, Guy R.
dc.date.accessioned2020-09-05T07:02:37Z
dc.date.available2020-09-05T07:02:37Z
dc.date.issued2011-07-01
dc.identifier.citationMcDonald, C. J., & McPherson, G. R. (2011). Absence of a grass/fire cycle in a semiarid grassland: response to prescribed fire and grazing. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 64(4), 384-393.
dc.identifier.issn0022-409X
dc.identifier.doi10.2111/REM-D-10-00036.1
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10150/642881
dc.description.abstractMany nonnative invasive grasses alter fire regimes to their own benefit and the detriment of native organisms. In southern Arizona the nonnative Lehmann lovegrass (Eragrostis lehmanniana Nees) dominates many semiarid grasslands where native grasses were abundant. Managers are wary of using prescribed fire in this fire-prone community partly due to the perceived effects of a grass/fire cycle. However, examples of the grass/fire cycle originate in ecosystems where native plants are less fire-tolerant than grasses and the invasive plant does not mimic the physiognomy of the native community. We investigate the effects of prescribed fire and livestock grazing on a semiarid grassland community dominated by a nonnative invasive grass. Lehmann lovegrass does not appear to alter the fire regime of semiarid grasslands to the detriment of native plants. Prescribed fire reduced the abundance of Lehmann lovegrass for 1 to 2 yr while increasing abundance of native grasses, herbaceous dicotyledons and fall richness, and diversity. Effects of livestock grazing were less transformative than the effects of fire in this long-grazed area, but grazing negatively affected native plants as did the combination of prescribed fire and livestock grazing. Although Lehmann lovegrass produces more fuel than native plants, fire frequency in semiarid grasslands appears to be limited by the paucity of above-average precipitation, which constrains high fuel loads. In addition, many native grasses tolerate high temperatures produced by Lehmann lovegrass fires. Consistent with previous research, fire does not promote the spread of Lehmann lovegrass, and more importantly human alteration of the fire regime is greater than the nominal effects of Lehmann lovegrass introduction on the fire regime.
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSociety for Range Management
dc.relation.urlhttps://rangelands.org/
dc.rightsCopyright © Society for Range Management.
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
dc.subjectArizona
dc.subjectEragrostis lehmanniana
dc.subjectinvasive grasses
dc.subjectLehmann lovegrass
dc.subjectlivestock grazing
dc.subjectnative plants
dc.titleAbsence of a Grass/Fire Cycle in a Semiarid Grassland: Response to Prescribed Fire and Grazing
dc.typetext
dc.typeArticle
dc.identifier.journalRangeland Ecology & Management
dc.description.collectioninformationThe Rangeland Ecology & Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information.
dc.eprint.versionFinal published version
dc.description.admin-noteMigrated from OJS platform August 2020
dc.source.volume64
dc.source.issue4
dc.source.beginpage384-393
refterms.dateFOA2020-09-05T07:02:37Z


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