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Limits to Understory Plant Restoration Following Fuel-Reduction Treatments in a Piñon–Juniper Woodland

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Abstract

National fuel-reduction programs aim to reduce the risk of wildland fires to human communities and to restore forest and rangeland ecosystems to resemble their historical structure, function, and diversity. There are a number of factors, such as seed bank dynamics, post-treatment climate, and herbivory, which determine whether this latter goal may be achieved. Here, we examine the short-term (2 years) vegetation response to fuel-reduction treatments (mechanical mastication, broadcast burn, and pile burn) and seeding of native grasses on understory vegetation in an upland piñon–juniper woodland in southeast Utah. We also examine how wildlife herbivory affects the success of fuel-reduction treatments. Herbaceous cover increased in response to fuel-reduction treatments in all seeded treatments, with the broadcast burn and mastication having greater increases (234 and 160 %, respectively) in herbaceous cover than the pile burn (32 %). In the absence of seeding, herbaceous cover only increased in the broadcast burn (32 %). Notably, fuel-reduction treatments, but not seeding, strongly affected herbaceous plant composition. All fuel-reduction treatments increased the relative density of invasive species, especially in the broadcast burn, which shifted the plant community composition from one dominated by perennial graminoids to one dominated by annual forbs. Herbivory by wildlife reduced understory plant cover by over 40 % and altered plant community composition. If the primary management goal is to enhance understory cover while promoting native species abundance, our study suggests that mastication may be the most effective treatment strategy in these upland piñon–juniper woodlands. Seed applications and wildlife exclosures further enhanced herbaceous cover following fuel-reduction treatments.

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Acknowledgments

We are most grateful to Mark Miller and Jeff Herrick who were critical in the early stages of this project for their help conceiving the project and developing the experimental design. For assistance with field sampling and/or laboratory work, we thank Sarah Castle, Scott Clingan, Bruce Condie, Gavin Dean, Matt Ellwood, Elizabeth Golden, Heidi Guenther, Ian Mallams, Conor Morrison, Michael Oro, Kayla O’Hara Reyna, Stephanie Shepard, Sarah Topp, and Lindsay Young. We are grateful to Brian Keating, Gabe Bissonette, and Paul Plemmons from the BLM for treatment implementation. We also thank Steven Peterson and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on previous versions of this manuscript. This research was supported by a USDA National Research Initiative—Managed Ecosystems grant (Proposal No. 2008-00776) and by a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (Grant No. DGE 1144083).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    Miranda D. Redmond & Nichole N. Barger

  2. Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA

    Tamara J. Zelikova

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  1. Miranda D. Redmond
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  2. Tamara J. Zelikova
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Correspondence to Miranda D. Redmond.

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Redmond, M.D., Zelikova, T.J. & Barger, N.N. Limits to Understory Plant Restoration Following Fuel-Reduction Treatments in a Piñon–Juniper Woodland. Environmental Management 54, 1139–1152 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-014-0338-3

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