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Publication Date
1977
Description
We investigated plant succession after accidental burning of Artemisia/ Stipa grasslands. Burning is the most important catastrophic stand renewal process for this grazing resource. The most striking impact of burning was the complete removal of the dominant shrub Artemisia tridentata Nutt. which does not sprout after removal of the aerial portion of the plant. Numerous other species of shrubs do rootsprout after burning and assume dominance of the plant community for 10 to 15 years. The native perennial grasses were not unduly injured by the fire, but the density of perennial grass had been greatly reduced by a century of excessive grazing. The reduced stands of grasses could not fully utilize the environmental potential released by destroying the dominant Artemisia. The alien weed Bromus tectorum L. invaded the void left by the reduced perennial grass stand and assumed dominance of the herbaceous vegetation.
Citation
Young, James A. and Evans, Raymond A., "Wildfires 1n semiarid Artemisia/ Stipa grasslands" (1977). IGC Proceedings (1977-2023). 16.
(URL: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1977/sess3/16)
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Wildfires 1n semiarid Artemisia/ Stipa grasslands
We investigated plant succession after accidental burning of Artemisia/ Stipa grasslands. Burning is the most important catastrophic stand renewal process for this grazing resource. The most striking impact of burning was the complete removal of the dominant shrub Artemisia tridentata Nutt. which does not sprout after removal of the aerial portion of the plant. Numerous other species of shrubs do rootsprout after burning and assume dominance of the plant community for 10 to 15 years. The native perennial grasses were not unduly injured by the fire, but the density of perennial grass had been greatly reduced by a century of excessive grazing. The reduced stands of grasses could not fully utilize the environmental potential released by destroying the dominant Artemisia. The alien weed Bromus tectorum L. invaded the void left by the reduced perennial grass stand and assumed dominance of the herbaceous vegetation.
