Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T18:35:20.789Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of Targeted Grazing and Prescribed Burning on Community and Seed Dynamics of a Downy Brome (Bromus tectorum)–Dominated Landscape

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Joel M. Diamond ,
Christopher A. Call  and
Nora Devoe
Joel M. Diamond*
Affiliation:
Wildlife Contracts Branch, Arizona Game and Fish, Phoenix, AZ 85086
Christopher A. Call
Affiliation:
Wildland Resources Department, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322
Nora Devoe
Affiliation:
Office of Renewable Resources and Planning, Bureau of Land Management, Washington, DC 20240
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Downy brome (Bromus tectorum L.)—dominated communities can remain as stable states for long periods, even with frequent disturbance by grazing and fire. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of using targeted cattle grazing and late-season prescribed burning, alone and in combination, to reduce B. tectorum seed bank input and seed bank density and thus alter aboveground community dynamics (species composition) on a B. tectorum–dominated landscape in northern Nevada. Cattle removed 80 to 90% of standing biomass in grazed plots in May of 2005 and 2006 when B. tectorum was in the boot (phenological) stage. Grazed and ungrazed plots were burned in October 2005 and 2006. The combined grazing–burning treatment was more effective than either treatment alone in reducing B. tectorum seed input and seed bank density, and in shifting species composition from a community dominated by B. tectorum to one composed of a suite of species, with B. tectorum as a component rather than a dominant. This study provides a meso-scale precursor for landscape-scale adaptive management using grazing and burning methodologies.

Keywords

Downy bromeBromus tectorum L. BROTECheatgrasslitterseed bankseed inputseedbed ecologylandscape scale
Type
Research Article
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , June 2012 , pp. 259 - 269
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Allen, P. S., Meyer, S. E., and Beckstead, J. 1995. Seed after-ripening in B. tectorum L. J. Exp. Bot. 279:1737–1744.Google Scholar
Blaisdell, J. P. 1958. Seasonal Development and Yield of Native Plants on the Upper Snake River Plains and Their Relation to Certain Climatic Factors. Washington, DC U.S. Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin 1190. 68 p.Google Scholar
Bunting, S. C., Kilgore, B. M., and Bushey, C. L. 1987. Guidelines for Prescription Burning Sagebrush–Grass Rangelands in the Northern Great Basin. Ogden, UT U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, General Technical Report INT-231. 33 p.Google Scholar
Burgert, K. L., Burnside, O. C., Wicks, G. A., and Fenster, C. R. 1971. Longevity of shattercane and downy brome seed buried at three locations across Nebraska. Pages 84 in Proceedings of the 26th North Central Weed Control Conference. Champaign, IL North Central Weed Science Society, Inc.Google Scholar
Chabrerie, O. and Alard, D. 2005. Comparison of three seed trap types in a chalk grassland: toward a standardised protocol. Plant Ecol. 176:101–112.Google Scholar
Chambers, J. C. and MacMahon, J. A. 1994. A day in the life of a seed: movements and fates of seeds and their implications for natural and managed systems. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 25:263–292.Google Scholar
Champlin, M. R. 1982. Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) Ecology and Management with Emphasis on Prescribed Burning. Ph.D Dissertation. Corvallis, OR Oregon State University. 136 p.Google Scholar
D'Antonio, C. M. and Vitousek, P. M. 1992. Biological invasion by exotic grasses, the grass/fire cycle and global change. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 23:63–87.Google Scholar
Daubenmire, R. F. 1940. Plant succession due to improper grazing in the Agropyron bunchgrass prairie of southeastern Washington. Ecology 21:55–64.Google Scholar
Daubenmire, R. F. 1975. Plant succession on abandoned fields, and fire influences, in a steppe area in southeastern Washington. Northwest Sci. 49:36–48.Google Scholar
Diamond, J. M., Call, C. A., and Devoe, N. 2009. Effects of targeted cattle grazing on fire behavior of cheatgrass-dominated rangeland in the northern Great Basin, USA. Int. J. Wildland Fire 18:944–950.Google Scholar
Dittberner, P. L. and Olson, M. R. 1983. The Plant Information Network (PIN) Database: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. Washington, DC U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service FWS/OBS-83/86. 786 p.Google Scholar
Evans, R. A. and Young, J. A. 1970. Plant litter and establishment of alien annual weed species in rangeland communities. Weed Sci. 18:679–703.Google Scholar
Evans, R. A. and Young, J. A. 1984. Microsite requirements of downy brome (Bromus tectorum) infestation and control of sagebrush rangelands. Weed Sci. 32:13–17.Google Scholar
Facelli, J. M. and Pickett, S. T. A. 1991. Plant litter: its dynamics and effects on plant community structure. Bot. Rev. 57:1–31.Google Scholar
Hassan, M. A. and West, N. E. 1986. Dynamics of soil seed pools in burned and unburned sagebrush semi-deserts. Ecology 67:269–272.Google Scholar
Hempy-Mayer, K. and Pyke, D. A. 2008. Defoliation effects on Bromus tectorum seed production: implications for grazing. Rangeland Ecol. Manag. 61:116–123.Google Scholar
Hironaka, M. and Tisdale, E. W. 1963. Secondary succession in annual vegetation in southern Idaho. Ecology 44:810–812.Google Scholar
Hulbert, L. C. 1955. Ecological studies of Bromus tectorum and other annual brome grasses. Ecol. Monogr. 25:181–213.Google Scholar
Humphrey, L. D. and Schupp, E. W. 2001. Seedbanks of Bromus tectorum–dominated communities in the Great Basin. Western North Amer. Nat. 61:85–92.Google Scholar
Knapp, P. A. 1996. Cheatgrass (B. tectorum L.) dominance in the Great Basin Desert: history, persistence and influences to human activities. Global Environ. Change 6(1):37–52.Google Scholar
Kostivkovsky, V. and Young, J. A. 2000. Invasive exotic rangeland weeds: a glimpse at some of their native habitats. Rangelands 22(6):3–6.Google Scholar
Mack, R. N. and Pyke, D. A. 1983. The demography of Bromus tectorum: variation in time and space. J. Ecol. 71:69–93.Google Scholar
Mack, R. N. and Pyke, D. A. 1984. The demography of Bromus tectorum: the role of microclimate, grazing and disease. J. Ecol. 72:731–748.Google Scholar
McAdoo, K., Schultz, B., Swanson, S., and Orr, R. 2007. Northeastern Nevada Wildfires 2006. Part 2—Can Livestock be Used to Reduce Wildfires? University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Fact Sheet 07-21. http://www.unce.unr.edu/publicastions/files/nr/2007/fs0721.pdf. Accessed March 1, 2008Google Scholar
Melgoza, G. and Nowak, R. S. 1991. Competition between cheatgrass and two native species after fire: implications from observations and measurements of root distribution. J. Range Manag. 44:27–33.Google Scholar
Miller, F. M., Svejcar, T. J., and West, N. E. 1994. Implications of livestock grazing in the intermountain sagebrush region: plant composition. Pages 101–146 in Vara, M., Laycock, W. A., and Pieper, R. D., eds. Ecological Implications of Livestock Herbivory in the West. Denver, CO Society for Range Management.Google Scholar
Morrow, L. A. and Stahlman, P. W. 1984. The history and distribution of downy brome (Bromus tectorum) in North America. Weed Sci. 32:2–6.Google Scholar
Mosley, J. C. and Roselle, L. 2006. Targeted livestock grazing to suppress invasive annual grasses. Pages 68–77 in Launchbaugh, K., ed. Targeted Grazing: A Natural Approach to Vegetation Management and Landscape Enhancement. Denver, CO: American Sheep Industry Association.Google Scholar
Pellant, M. and Hall, C. 1994. Distribution of two exotic grasses on public lands in the Great Basin: status in 1992. Pages 109–112 in Monsen, S. B., and Kitchen, S. G., eds. Proceedings—Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands. Ogden, UT U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, General Technical Report INT-GTR-313.Google Scholar
Peters, E. F. and Bunting, S. C. 1994. Conditions pre- and post-occurrence of annual grasses on the Snake River Plain. Pages 31–36 in Monsen, S. B., and Kitchen, S. G., eds. Proceedings—Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands. Ogden, UT U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, General Technical Report INT-GTR-313.Google Scholar
Piemeisel, R. L. 1951. Causes affecting change and rate of change in a vegetation of annuals in Idaho. Ecology 32:53–72.Google Scholar
Pyke, A. P. and Novak, S. J. 1994. Cheatgrass demography—establishment attributes, recruitment, ecotypes and genetic variability. Pages 12–21 in Monsen, S. B., and Kitchen, S. G., eds. Proceedings—Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands. Ogden, UT U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, General Technical Report INT-GTR-313.Google Scholar
Rice, P. M. 2005. Downy brome Bromus tectorum L. Pages 147–170 in Duncan, C. L., and Clark, J. K., eds. Invasive Plants of Range and Wildlands and Their Environmental, Economic and Social Impacts. Lawrence, KS Weed Science Society of America.Google Scholar
Rickard, W. H. 1985. Experimental cattle grazing in a relatively undisturbed shrubsteppe community. Northwest Sci. 59(1):66–72.Google Scholar
SAS Institute. 2005. JMP Statistics and Graphics Guide. Version 5. Cary, NC SAS Institute. p. 107–144.Google Scholar
Smith, D. C., Meyer, S. E., and Anderson, V. J. 2008. Factors affecting Bromus tectorum seed bank carryover in western Utah. Rangeland Ecol. Manag. 61:430–436.Google Scholar
Sternberg, M., Gutman, M., Perevolotsky, A., and Kigel, J. 2003. Effects of grazing on soil seed bank dynamics: an approach with functional groups. J. Veg. Sci. 14:375–386.Google Scholar
Thill, D. C., Beck, G., and Callihan, R. H. 1984. The biology of downy brome. Weed Sci. 32:7–12.Google Scholar
Uresk, D. W., Cline, J. F., and Rickard, W. H. 1979. Growth rates of a cheatgrass community and some associated factors. J. Range Manag. 32:168–170.Google Scholar
[USDA NRCS] U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service. 1997. Soil Survey of the Quinn River Valley. http://www.NRCS/soilsurvey.org. Accessed March 1, 2008.Google Scholar
[USDI BLM] U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 1998. Final Multiple Use Decision, Daveytown Allotment. Winnemucca, NV Bureau of Land Management, Winnemucca Field Office. 33 p.Google Scholar
Volodina, I. A. 1992. Features of horizontal seed distribution in soils of Kalmykia. Botanicheski Zhurnal 77(5):40–43.Google Scholar
Whisenant, S. G. 1990. Changing fire frequencies on Idaho's Snake River Plains: ecological and management implications. Pages 4–10 in Macarthur, E. D., Romney, E. M., Smith, S. D., and Tueller, compliers, P. T. Proceedings—Symposium on Cheatgrass Invasion, Shrub Die-off and Other Aspects of Shrub Biology and Management. Ogden, UT USDA Forest Service General Technical Report INT-276.Google Scholar
Wright, H. A. and Bailey, A. W. 1982. Fire Ecology: United States and Southern Canada. New York J. Wiley. 501 p.Google Scholar
Wright, H. A. and Klemmedson, J. O. 1965. Effects of fire on bunchgrasses of the sagebrush–grass region in southern Idaho. Ecology 46:680–688.Google Scholar
Young, J. A. and Clements, C. D. 2009. Cheatgrass: Fire and Forage on the Range. Reno, NV University of Nevada Press. 348 p.Google Scholar
Young, J. A. and Evans, R. A. 1975. Germinability of seed reserves in a big sagebrush community. Weed Sci. 23:358–364.Google Scholar
Young, J. A. and Evans, R. A. 1978. Population dynamics after wildfires in sagebrush grasslands. J. Range Manag. 31:283–289.Google Scholar
Young, J. A. and Evans, R. A. 1981. Demography and fire history of a western juniper stand. J. Range Manag. 34:501–505.Google Scholar
Young, J. A., Evans, R. A., and Eckert, R. E. 1969. Population dynamics of downy brome. Weed Sci. 17:20–26.Google Scholar
Young, J. A., Evans, R. A., Gifford, R. O., and Eckert, R. E. Jr. 1970. Germination characteristics of three species of Cruciferae. Weed Sci. 18:41–48.Google Scholar