Influence of canopy removal by burning or clipping on emergence of Eragrostis lehmanniana seedlings
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Authors: L. B. Sumrall, B. A. Roundy, J. R. Cox, and V. K. Winkel
Date: 1991
Journal: International Journal of Wildland Fire
Volume: 1
Number: 1
Pages: 35-40
Summary of Methods: In Arizona, Sumrall et al. tested the hypothesis that canopy removal by fire, rather than an initial heat treatment, is responsible for much higher seedling recruitment of Eragrostis lehmanniana (Lehmann lovegrass) on burned than unburned areas. Canopy removal by burning or clipping greatly increased seedling emergence of E. lehmanniana during summer rains. Results also shows increased seedbank germinability immediately after an October burn. High seedling emergence after canopy removal was not the result of greater seedbed water availability but probably the result of a greater range in diurnal soil temperatures and increases in red light reaching the seedbed, both of which stimulate germination. The ability of E. lehmanniana to persist after fire indicates that prescribed burning could be used to control associated woody plants and improve forage palatability of E. lehmanniana-dominated grasslands.
Article Summary / Main Points: None
Vegetation Types:
MLRA Ecoregions:
Agrovoc Control Words: Riparian zones Rangelands Wildlife
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Experimental Research
Keywords: desert grassland, prescribed fire, range improvements, seed germination, soil temperatures, canopy removal, lehmann lovegrass, eragrostis lehmanniana
Annotation: Four treatments were used: (1) control treatment left mature plants and the grass canopy intact. (2) burn treatment, applied as perimeter fires, consisted of burning in October and spraying with glyphosate to kill any living mature plants the following spring. (3) clipping treatment consisted of mowing mature plants to a 5 cm stubble height in October after seed rain and spraying with glyphosate to kill live plants the following spring. (4) dead-canopy treatment consisted of spraying live mature plants in early spring with glyphosate to eliminate their soil-water use while leaving the dead canopy intact. Grazing intensity defined as "ungrazed" and "grazed".
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