Publications

What’s going on in glade soil: effects of edge and fire on mycorrhizae

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Alice Tipton described her research in glades relating mycorrhizae to fire and plant productivity.

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Fire alters emergence of invasive plant species from soil surface-deposited seeds

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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

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Historical wildfires do not promote cheatgrass invasion in a western Great Plains steppe

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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

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Controls over the strength and timing of fire-grazer interactions in a semi-arid rangeland.

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2017-09

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Grasshopper responses to fire and postfire grazing in the Northern Great Plains

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Grasshoppers in the northern Great Plains periodically experience population outbreaks. While insecticides are available to help control these outbreaks, prescribed burning and livestock grazing, alone or in combination, may offer range managers another method of control.

2017-08

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Patch burn grazing in a semi-arid grassland: consequences for pronghorn, plains pricklypear, and wind erosion

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Patch burn grazing management is prescribed burning and grazing practice that allows livestock and wildlife to select a diet from both burned and unburned vegetation. Differences in forage quality between the burned and unburned areas can affect where animals graze.

2012-07

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Plains prickly pear response to fire: effects of fuel load, heat, fire weather, and donor site soil

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Prickly pears are native plants that provide food and habitat for wildlife. However, they can reduce forage and increase livestock injury when there are too many of them. Plains prickly pear is adapted to fire, re-growing from seeds, roots, and pads, but fire can also kill plants.

2017-06

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Semiarid rangeland is resilient to summer fire and postfire grazing utilization

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Grazing immediately following a wildfire has been thought to be damaging to northern Great Plains grasslands, and delaying grazing is often recommended. This recommendation may be needlessly causing livestock producers extra work and loss of income, as these grasslands have been shown to be resilient to summer fire, grazing and drought.

2017-05

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Plant community response to summer fire in the Northern Great Plains

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Fire is common in the western Great Plains, but much less well studied than in eastern prairies. Wildfires most commonly occur in July and August in these semi-arid rangelands covered with cool-season grasses, but the impact of summer fires has not been well researched.

2017-04

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Swift fox response to prescribe fire in shortgrass steppe

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As land has been converging to crops, fire has been suppressed, coyotes have been controlled and tree and shrub cover in rangelands has increased. Thus, swift fox populations have severely declined in number and have become cut off from one another. Returning fire to the landscape may improve habitat for swift foxes.

2017-03

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