Soil and vegetation characteristics at Dead Horse Point State Park were analyzed to determine the effects of management practices by the park to control for Ips confusus. I. confusus is a native engraver beetle typically present in pinyon-juniper woodlands in low concentrations; however, when outbreaks occur these beetles can cause high mortality among Pinus edulis, which results in the alteration of woodland composition, structure, and function. Bromus tectorum is an invasive grass that can cause significant ecosystem alterations; disturbances from management efforts may facilitate invasion by B. tectorum. For three years, park managers cut infested Pinus edulis and burned the litter. In 2017, some tree stumps were also burned. Vegetation composition and ground cover data was collected in 1 m2 plots in each cardinal direction for each tree, and soil characteristics were collected from the approximate center of each plot; data was recorded for plots under ten control trees for each management area and ten cut trees. We sought to answer the following questions: 1) does burning litter of Pinus edulis cut to manage for Ips confusus impact succession of grasses and forbs? 2) does removal of Pinus edulis to manage for Ips confusus impact succession of grasses and forbs?
Results/Conclusions
We found the number of plants found under cut and cut/burned trees is lower than the number of plants found under uncut trees, while the number of species found under cut and cut/burned trees did not vary from uncut trees. Although we didn’t observe significant reductions in plant diversity under cut or cut/burned trees compared to uncut trees, the observed decrease in plant abundance may result in a decrease in diversity in the future. The percent cover of bare ground was higher for cut and cut/burned trees, and the percent cover of biological soil crusts was lower for cut and cut/burned trees. The percent cover of Bromus tectorum was significantly higher under cut trees only in 2015. More bare ground and loss of biological soil crusts as a result of the disturbance from cutting and burning may allow Bromus tectorum to establish populations in these areas, which can cause alterations in ecosystem structure, composition, and function. Managers should continue to monitor plant diversity and B. tectorum to ensure the applied management techniques don’t result in a loss of biodiversity or facilitate invasion by B. tectorum.