Fire is a natural ecological process in semi-arid regions and is often used as a management technique in many grassland ecosystems. Prescribed fires can provide land managers with valuable information about how plant communities recover in the years following a burn. Goals of prescribed burning include reduction in woody vegetation and increased production of native grasses. It is unclear if prescribed vs. natural fires have different effects on grassland vegetation. We investigated the effects of both wildfires and prescribed burns on composition of Bouteloua eriopoda dominated Chihuahuan desert grasslands in the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico. Grasslands were sampled in years following both natural and prescribed fires that occurred in different seasons. Data were collected along either line-intercept transects or in fixed quadrats depending on the site. We analyzed five transects and 20 0.24-ha plots in the years following three natural fires and four prescribed fires.
Results/Conclusions
Grassland communities demonstrated a consistent pattern of recovery among functional groups across all sites. Grasses had an immediate decrease in percent cover at the time of the fire and then a slow increase over the course of approximately ten years before stabilizing. Forbs experienced a pulse in percent cover in the year following the fire, before decreasing to normal levels as the grasses recovered. The season of burning did not impact the recovery of the grassland communities. These results were consistent despite drought and fluctuations in precipitation in recovery years. Our results demonstrate that the response of forbs and grasses to fire can be predicted in different years, even under variable precipitation.