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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Response Of Conifer-Encroached Shrublands In The Great Basin To Prescribed Fire And Mechanical Treatments, Richard F. Miller, Jaime Ratchford, Bruce A. Roundy, Robin J. Tausch, April Hulet, Jeanne C. Chambers
Response Of Conifer-Encroached Shrublands In The Great Basin To Prescribed Fire And Mechanical Treatments, Richard F. Miller, Jaime Ratchford, Bruce A. Roundy, Robin J. Tausch, April Hulet, Jeanne C. Chambers
Articles
In response to the recent expansion of piñon and juniper woodlands into sagebrush-steppe communities in the northern Great Basin region, numerous conifer-removal projects have been implemented, primarily to release understory vegetation at sites having a wide range of environmental conditions. Responses to these treatments have varied from successful restoration of native plant communities to complete conversion to nonnative invasive species. To evaluate the general response of understory vegetation to tree canopy removal in conifer-encroached shrublands, we set up a region-wide study that measured treatment-induced changes in understory cover and density. Eleven study sites located across four states in the Great …
Piñon-Juniper Reduction Increases Soil Water Availability Of The Resource Growth Pool, Bruce A. Roundy, Kert Young, Nathan Cline, April Hulet, Richard F. Miller, Robin J. Tausch, Jeanne C. Chambers, Benjamin Rau
Piñon-Juniper Reduction Increases Soil Water Availability Of The Resource Growth Pool, Bruce A. Roundy, Kert Young, Nathan Cline, April Hulet, Richard F. Miller, Robin J. Tausch, Jeanne C. Chambers, Benjamin Rau
Articles
Managers reduce piñon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) trees that are encroaching on sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) communities to lower fuel loads and increase cover of desirable understory species. All plant species in these communities depend on soil water held at &spigt; -1.5 MPa matric potential in the upper 0.3 m of soil for nutrient diffusion to roots and major growth in spring (resource growth pool). We measured soil water matric potentials and temperatures using gypsum blocks and thermocouples buried at 0.01–0.3 m on tree, shrub, and interspace microsites to characterize the seasonal soil climate of 13 …
Understory Cover Responses To Piñon-Juniper Treatments Across Tree Dominance Gradients In The Great Basin, Bruce A. Roundy, Richard F. Miller, Robin J. Tausch, Kert Young, April Hulet, Benjamin Rau, Brad Jessop, Jeanne C. Chambers, Dennis Eggett
Understory Cover Responses To Piñon-Juniper Treatments Across Tree Dominance Gradients In The Great Basin, Bruce A. Roundy, Richard F. Miller, Robin J. Tausch, Kert Young, April Hulet, Benjamin Rau, Brad Jessop, Jeanne C. Chambers, Dennis Eggett
Articles
Piñon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) trees are reduced to restore native vegetation and avoid severe fires where they have expanded into sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) communities. However, what phase of tree infilling should treatments target to retain desirable understory cover and avoid weed dominance? Prescribed fire and tree felling were applied to 8–20-ha treatment plots at 11 sites across the Great Basin with a tree-shredding treatment also applied to four Utah sites. Treatments were applied across a tree infilling gradient as quantified by a covariate tree dominance index (TDI = tree cover/[tree + shrub + …