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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 16(1)

Impact of prescribed fire and other factors on cheatgrass persistence in a Sierra Nevada ponderosa pine forest*

Jon E. Keeley A B C and Thomas W. McGinnis A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A USGS Western Ecological Research Center, Sequoia and Kings Canyon Field Station, 47050 Generals Highway, Three Rivers, CA 93271, USA.

B Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.

C Corresponding author. Email: jon_keeley@usgs.gov

International Journal of Wildland Fire 16(1) 96-106 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF06052
Published: 20 February 2007

Abstract

Following the reintroduction of fire Bromus tectorum has invaded the low elevation ponderosa pine forests in parts of Kings Canyon National Park, California. We used prescribed burns, other field manipulations, germination studies, and structural equation modelling, to investigate how fire and other factors affect the persistence of cheatgrass in these forests. Our studies show that altering burning season to coincide with seed maturation is not likely to control cheatgrass because sparse fuel loads generate low fire intensity. Increasing time between prescribed fires may inhibit cheatgrass by increasing surface fuels (both herbaceous and litter), which directly inhibit cheatgrass establishment, and by creating higher intensity fires capable of killing a much greater fraction of the seed bank. Using structural equation modelling, postfire cheatgrass dominance was shown to be most strongly controlled by the prefire cheatgrass seedbank; other factors include soil moisture, fire intensity, soil N, and duration of direct sunlight. Current fire management goals in western conifer forests are focused on restoring historical fire regimes; however, these frequent fire regimes may enhance alien plant invasion in some forest types. Where feasible, fire managers should consider the option of an appropriate compromise between reducing serious fire hazards and exacerbating alien plant invasions.

Additional keywords: aliens, Bromus tectorum, Downy brome, fire intensity, non-native, structural equation modelling.


Acknowledgements

Funding was from the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSB 00-1-2-04). We would like to thank Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park staff, especially Bill Kaage, Tony Caprio, Jeff Manley, Dave Bartlett, Ben Jacobs, and Kevin Smith from fire management, who devoted a generous amount of time to the research burns. We thank Nate Wojkic and the Sanford Laboratory at the University of Denver for providing soil nitrogen data for this study. We thank USGS research personnel, Matt Brooks, Jayne Belnap, J. R. Matchett, Bridget Lair, Melissa Trader, Tyler Godin, Andi Heard, Sarah Graber, Tanya Baxter, Dale Ritenour, Joseph Rodriguez, Kim Bollens, Wil Mundy and statistician Julie Yee.


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* This article was written and prepared by US Government employees on official time and is therefore in the public domain and not subject to copyright.