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Project ID: 01B-3-3-03

Year: 2002

Date Started: 05/21/2002

Date Completed: 07/14/2006

Title: Effects of Prescribed Fire on the Invasion of Northern Mixed-Grass Prairie by Non-Native Plant Species: Implications for Restoration of an Endangered Ecosystem

Project Proposal Abstract: The successful implementation of fire management and planning in the northern Great Plains requires a knowledge base firmly founded on the long-term effects of fires on prairie vegetation, including bird and other wildlife habitat The historical management of National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) lands provides a unique opportunity to study and simulate long-ranging effects of fire on prairie habitat in the northern Great Plains. Although several decades of prescribed fire has been employed on Lostwood and Des Lacs NWR lands in northwestern North Dakota, there is little quantitative understanding of the effects of prescribed burning that is typically used to control or reduce plant species, such as non- native, invasive smooth brome. These refuges provide an unprecedented, multiple-decade backdrop on which to base the objectives of this proposed study. Our objectives are to determine how the number, seasonality, and biotic (e.g., grazing) and abiotic (e.g., precipitation) effects of prescribed burns influence both non- native and native species that occupy various plant community types. A preliminary study at Lostwood NWR in 2001 showed that areas previously burned at least twice had a higher species richness and lower percentage of invasive species compared to areas left unburned. The expansion of the preliminary study from Lostwood NWR to Des Lacs NWR, an ecosystem with similar climatic conditions but different geologic history, will greatly improve the generality of application of our results to the northern Great Plains. A combination of sub-plot sampling and belt transects will determine the presence, frequency, and vegetative cover of invasive species. Results will provide land managers with a useful, quantitative basis for planning and implementing the frequency of and interval between prescribed burns as a tool to control invasive (mostly non-native) species and promote native species.

Principal Investigator: Fred G. Giese

Agency/Organization: FWS-Fish and Wildlife Service

Branch or Dept: Des Lacs NWR

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Co-Principal Investigator	Jennifer S. Hartz-Rubin	Montana State University	Department of Ecology
Co-Principal Investigator	Cory S. Rubin	FWS-Fish and Wildlife Service	Des Lacs NWR
Co-Principal Investigator	Dave Walker	FWS-Fish and Wildlife Service	Des Lacs NWR
Co-Principal Investigator	Tad Weaver	Montana State University	Department of Ecology
Federal Cooperator	Fred G. Giese	FWS-Fish and Wildlife Service	Des Lacs NWR

Project Locations

Consortium

Great Plains

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Project Deliverables

Final Report ("Results presented in JFSP Final Reports may not have been peer-reviewed and should be interpreted as tentative until published in a peer-reviewed source.")

There are no deliverables available for this project.

Supporting Documents

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Brief

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