Great Plains Published
Prescribed fire affects wildlife in various ways. Population responses by species can be positive, negative, or neutral, short-term or long-term, and they often vary across spatial scales. Whereas prescribed fire can create or maintain habitats for some species, it can also remove or alter conditions in ways that render it unsuitable for other species. Furthermore, a species may benefit from fire in one situation but not another. Given the variations in fire and in species responses, the only real generalization one can make is that exceptions occur.
As redcedar encroaches and increases in canopy cover, species diversity that is endemic to grasslands collapses and production of herbaceous biomass (forage) underneath decreases, resulting in a loss of livestock carrying capacity (Smith and Stubbendieck 1990; Engle et al. 1987; Limb et al. 2010; Twidwell et al. 2013a).
The “cut and stuff” practice is an addition of ladder fuels that can increase fire intensity and create longer flames needed to control larger trees, thus increasing the overall effectiveness of most prescribed burns.
The Great Plains of North America has experienced exponential increases in wildfires since 1985, with a 400% increase in area burned and more than 300% increase in number of wildfires.
2017-01
The Great Plains of the US is characterized by grassland communities. Fire plays an important role in maintaining these grasslands. However, it has been difficult to understand how much fire occurs in the Great Plains and how fire occurrence might vary across the region.
2018-02
The vegetation patterns and succession of Great Plains grasslands are structured largely by fire. We can see how important fire is to these grasslands by its exclusion, in as little as 40 years tallgrass prairie without fire can become a woodland.
Alice Tipton described her research in glades relating mycorrhizae to fire and plant productivity.
Japanese brome, Russian knapweed, spotted knapweed, and leafy spurge are invasive, non-native weeds in the northern prairies of the central United States. Because they reproduce by seed, destroying the seed with fire may be one way to control these plants. Knowing the fire characteristics that will kill the seeds is important to using this method of control.
2017-11
The invasive species cheatgrass, Bromus tectorum, has been linked to increased fire frequency, reduced livestock weight gains and plant diversity, and degraded wildlife habitat in the Intermountain region of the western United States.
2017-10