Abstract
Prescribed burns and wildfires maintain prairie vegetation by limiting tree growth and promoting prairie grasses and forb production. Previous studies have shown that fire causes mixed effects on the prairie fauna, promoting some organisms while negatively affecting other organisms. Playa wetlands are interspersed within some semi-arid prairie landscapes, and are thereby subject to fire. These temporary wetlands can remain dry for years and less mobile aquatic taxa survive dry periods as drought resilient resting stages. We experimentally examined the effect of fire on the subsequent hatching of crustacean resting stages found in playa wetlands. Soil collected from four western Oklahoma playa wetlands was mixed and left unburned or exposed to burning (at three fuel levels: 0.5 time, 1 time, and 3 times the natural vegetation biomass) to simulate different fire intensities. We rehydrated soil taken from two depths (0 cm to 1 cm and 1 cm to 2 cm) for two weeks and examined hatched invertebrates and algal biomass. We did not find any significant difference in invertebrate richness and abundance or algal biomass from treated (burned) and untreated (unburned) soil in either of the soil layers. The resting stages of invertebrates are tolerant to a wide range of environmental factors and, consequently, are apparently tolerant (as a population) to increased soil temperatures resulting from low intensity burning.
Highlights
Climate and fire are suspected to have been integral players in the formation of the native grasslands of North America (Vogl 1974, Wright and Bailey 1980, Higgins 1984)
We experimentally examined the effects of fire on crustacean resting stages and algae in soil collected from dry playas
In another study of fire effects, fire did not affect the viability of fairy shrimp (Anostraca) eggs in vernal pools in a chaparral ecosystem (Wells et al 1997), but our study experimentally examined how fire affected the entire crustacean community and whether these effects varied with fuel load
Summary
Climate and fire are suspected to have been integral players in the formation of the native grasslands of North America (Vogl 1974, Wright and Bailey 1980, Higgins 1984). The fauna and flora of the grasslands developed ecological and evolutionary adaptations to fire (Bond and Keeley 2005). Some plant species in fire prone areas have developed a requirement for fire to complete their life cycle (Naveh 1975, Bond and van Wilgen 2012). Since fires have naturally maintained the prairie ecosystem of the Great Plains, wildlife managers have used prescribed burns as a conservation tool to maintain prairies worldwide (Looman 1983, de Van Booysen and Tainton 1984). Prescribed burns and wildfires limit tree encroachment into grasslands (Briggs et al 2002) and increase annual production of some native prairie grasses (Glenn-Lewin et al 1990). Fire promotes the growth of prairie plants other than grasses, such as legumes and other forbs (Howe 1999, Maret and Wilson 2000, Kaye et al 2001, Brockway et al 2002)
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