Effects of fire and environmental variables on plant structure and composition in grazed salt desert shrublands of the Great Basin (USA) |
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| Authors: | K Haubensak C D'Antonio D Wixon |
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| Institution: | 1. Fire Ecologist, Bureau of Land Management, Oregon State Office, Portland, OR 97204, USA.;2. Plant and Fire Ecologist Emeritus, Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Station, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.;3. Restoration Ecologist, Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.;4. Research Ecologist (retired), US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR 97204, USA.;5. Bioclimatologist (retired), US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.;1. Fish and Wildlife Biologist, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Bishop, CA 93514, USA;2. Professor, Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA;3. Assistant Professor, Department of Forest, Rangeland, and Fire Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA;4. Professor Emeritus, Department of Animal and Range Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA;5. Range Scientist, Retired, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Reno, NV 89509, USA;6. Research Ecologist, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Reno, NV 89509, USA;7. Associate Professor, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA;8. Assistant Professor, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA;9. Associate Research Professor, Department of Statistics, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA;1. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA;2. Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution Program, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA;3. Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA;2. Bureau of Land Management, Portland, OR 97204, USA;3. US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Reno, NV 89512, USA;4. US Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA;5. US Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA;6. Department of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA;1. Range Scientists, US Department of Agriculture (USDA)?Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center (EOARC), Burns, OR 97720, USA;2. Former Range Technicians at EOARC, Botanist, US Forest Service, Eagle River, WI 54521, USA;3. Research Leader, US Department of Agriculture (USDA)?Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center (EOARC), Burns, OR 97720, USA;4. Former Range Technicians at EOARC, Ph.D. Candidate, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA;5. Rangeland Ecologist, EOARC-Oregon State University, Burns, OR 97720, USA. |
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| Abstract: | Fire in shrub-dominated portions of the Great Basin, largely fueled by non-native annuals such as Bromus tectorum, has become an important structuring force altering vegetation composition and soil characteristics. The extent to which fire affects native species in drier portions of the Great Basin, termed salt desert, is poorly documented. We conducted a survey of grazed salt desert habitat in northwestern Nevada 5 years after wildfires burned 650,000 ha, with the goal of investigating community response to fire and factors correlating with post-fire recovery. We found that recruitment of a dominant shrub, Artemisia spinescens, is severely restricted following fire: it occurred in only 2 of the 24 burned sites. The co-dominant shrub, Atriplex confertifolia, occurred in most burned sites although on average its percent cover was one-third lower than adjacent unburned sites. Biotic soil crust cover was four times lower, and non-native species cover 5 times higher, in burned sites compared to unburned. Ordination analyses confirmed differences among plant communities in burned versus unburned sites, with environmental variables soil conductivity, plant litter, soil potassium (K+) and pH explaining 38% of the variance in community composition. However, we found no environmental predictors of recovery for native species in burned sites. Future recruitment is likely to be further limited, as fire frequency in the salt desert is expected to increase with invasion by non-native annual grasses and with global climate change. |
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