Abstract
Burning shrub and grassland communities often leads to increases in plant production and nutritional quality that benefit herbivores, resulting in increased herbivore use of burned areas. Increased use has been ascribed more specifically to changes in plant community structure, community composition and diversity, nutritional quality, and seasonal availability. These hypotheses can be evaluated more precisely if changes in plant communities following burning are monitored concurrently with changes in herbivore use, especially in longer-term studies. From 1988 to 1999, we examined responses of elk (Cervus elaphus) following prescribed burning of areas burned in 1984 and 1988 that had been formerly dominated by mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana) in south-central Montana (USA), with concurrent monitoring of changes in plant production, nutritional quality, and community composition. Elk made increased use of burned sites up to 15 years after burning. Burning transformed big sagebrush-dominated communities into native herbaceous communities that persisted for 15 years without sagebrush reinvasion. Forage biomass and protein content remained higher on burned sites for 15 years, although differences were not significant in every year and declined as time elapsed after burning. Forage production, forage protein, and elk use were temporally correlated, suggesting the possibility that grazing by elk might have contributed to persistence of elevated plant production and protein levels on burned sites.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Allen-Diaz B. and Bartolome J.W. (1998). Sagebrush-grass vegetation dynamics: comparing classical and state-transition models. Ecol. Appl. 8: 795–804
Antos J.A., McCune B. and Bara C. (1983). The effect of fire on an ungrazed western Montana grassland. Am. Midland Nat. 110: 354–364
A.O.A.C. (1965). Official Methods of Analysis. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Washington, DC, USA
Arno S.F. and Gruell G.E. (1983). Fire history at the forest-grassland ecotone in southwestern Montana. J. Range Manage. 36: 332–336
Biondini M.E., Steuter A.A. and Hamilton R.G. (1999). Bison use of fire-managed remnant prairies. J. Range Manage. 52: 454–461
Black R.A., Richards J.H. and Manwaring J.H. (1994). Nutrient uptake from enriched soil microsites by three Great Basin perennials. Ecology 75: 110–122
Blair J.M. (1997). Fire, N availability and plant responses in grasslands: a test of the transient maxima hypothesis. Ecology 78: 2359–2368
Briggs J.M. and Knapp A.K. (2001). Determinants of C3 forb growth and production in a C4 dominated grassland. Plant Ecol. 152: 93–100
Caldwell M.M., Manwaring J.H. and Jackson R.B. (1991a). Exploitation of phosphate from fertile soil microsites by three Great Basin perennials when in competition. Funct. Ecol. 5: 757–764
Caldwell M.M., Manwaring J.H. and Durham S.L. (1991b). The microscale distribution of neighboring plant roots in fertile soil microsites. Funct. Ecol. 5: 765–772
Collins S.L. (1987). Interaction of disturbances in a tallgrass prairie: a field experiment. Ecology 68: 1243–1250
Collins S.L. and Glenn S.M. (1988). Disturbance and community structure in North American prairies. In: During, H.J., Werger, M.J.A. and Willems, J.H. (eds) Diversity and Pattern in Plant Communities, pp 131–143. SPB Academic, The Hague,The Netherlands
Cui M. and Caldwell M.M. (1998). Nitrate and phosphate uptake by Agropyron desertorum and Artemisia tridentata from soil patches with balanced and unbalanced nitrate and phosphate supply. New Phytol. 139: 267–272
Donovan L.A. and Ehleringer J.R. (1994). Water stress and use of summer precipitation in a Great Basin shrub community. Funct. Ecol. 8: 289–297
Frank D.A. and Groffman P.M. (1998). Ungulate vs. landscape control of soil C and N processes in grasslands of Yellowstone National Park. Ecology 79: 2229–2241
Frank D.A., McNaughton S.J. and Tracy B.F. (1998). The ecology of the earth’s grazing ecosystems. BioScience 48: 513–521
Gibson D.J. and Hulbert L.C. (1987). Effects of fire, topography and year-to-year climatic variation on species composition in tallgrass prairie. Vegetatio 72: 175–185
Harniss R.O. and Murray R.B. (1973). Thirty years of vegetal change following burning sagebrush-grass range. J. Range Manage. 26: 322–325
Hayden-Wing L.D. (1979). Distribution of deer, elk and moose on a winter range in southeastern Idaho. In: Boyce, M.S. and Hayden-Wing, L.D. (eds) North American Elk: Ecology, Behavior, and Management, pp 122–131. University of Wyoming Press, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
Hobbs N.T., Baker D.L., Bear G.D. and Bowden D.C. (1996). Ungulate grazing in sagebrush grassland: mechanisms of resource competition. Ecol. Appl. 6: 200–217
Hobbs N.T., Schimel D.S., Owensby C.E. and Ojima D.S. (1991). Fire and grazing in the tallgrass prairie: contingent effects on nitrogen budgets. Ecology 72: 1374–1382
Hobbs N.T. and Spowart R.A. (1984). Effects of prescribed burning on nutrition of mountain sheep and mule deer during winter and spring. J. Wildlife Manage. 48: 551–560
Hobbs N.T. and Swift D.M. (1985). Estimates of habitat carrying capacity incorporating explicit nutritional constraints. J. Wildlife Manage. 49: 814–822
Huber-Sannwald E. and Pyke D.A. (2005). Establishing native grasses in a big sagebrush-dominated site: an intermediate restoration step. Restor. Ecol. 13: 292–301
Johnson W.M. (1969). Life expectancy of sagebrush control in central Wyoming. J. Range Manage. 22: 177–182
Johnson L.C. and Matchett J.R. (2001). Fire and grazing regulate belowground process in tallgrass prairie. Ecology 82: 3377–3389
Jourdonnais C.S. and Bedunah D.J. (1990). Prescribed fire and cattle grazing on an elk winter range in Montana. Wildlife Soc. Bull. 18: 232–240
Knapp A.K. and Seastedt T.R. (1986). Detritus accumulation limits productivity of tallgrass prairie. BioScience 36: 662–668
Kucera C.L. and Ehrenreich J.H. (1962). Some effects of annual burning on central Missouri prairie. Ecology 43: 334–346
McCarron J.K. and Knapp A.K. (2003). C3 shrub expansion in a C4 grassland: positive post-fire responses in resources and shoot growth. Am. J. Bot. 90: 1496–1501
McDaniel K.C., Torell L.A. and Ochoa C.G. (2005). Wyoming big sagebrush recovery and understory response with Tebuthiuron control. Rangeland Ecol. Manage. 58: 56–76
McGinley M.A. and Tilman D.T. (1992). Short-term response of old-field plant communities to fire and disturbance. Am. Midland Nat. 129: 409–413
Miller R.F., Doeschler P.S. and Wang J. (1991). Response of Artemisia frigida ssp. Wyomingensis and Stipa thurberiana to nitrogen amendments. Am. Midland Nat. 125: 104–113
Mueggler W.F. and Stewart W.L. (1980). Grassland and shrubland habitat types of western Montana. U. S. Forest Service General Technical Report INT-66, Ogden, Utah, U.S.A
Pearson S.M., Turner M.G., Wallace L.L. and Romme W.H. (1995). Winter habitat use by large ungulates following fire in northern Yellowstone National Park. Ecol. Appl. 5: 744–755
Puerto A., Rico M., Matias M.D. and Garcia J.A. (1990). Variation in structure and diversity in Mediterranean grasslands related to trophic status and grazing intensity. J. Veget. Sci. 1: 445–452
Redmannn R.E., Romo J.T. and Pylypec B. (1993). Impacts of burning on primary productivity of Festuca and Stipa-Agropyron grasslands in central Saskatchewan. Am. Midland Nat. 130: 262–273
Risser P.G. and Parton W.J. (1982). Ecosystem analysis of the tallgrass prairie: nitrogen cycle. Ecology 63: 1342–1351
Rounds R.C. (1981). First approximation of habitat selectivity of ungulates on extensive winter ranges. J. Wildlife Manage. 45: 187–196
Rowland M.M., Alldredge A.W., Ellis J.E., Weber B.J. and White G.C. (1983). Comparative winter diets of elk in New Mexico. J. Wildlife Manage. 47: 924–932
Seip D.R. and Bunnell F.L. (1985). Nutrition of Stone’s sheep on burned and unburned ranges. J. Wildlife Manage. 49: 397–405
Singer F.J. and Harter M.K. (1996). Comparative effects of elk herbivory and 1988 fires on northern Yellowstone National Park grasslands. Ecol. Appl. 6: 185–199
Steinauer E.M. and Collins S.L. (1995). Effects of urine deposition on small-scale patch structure in prairie vegetation. Ecology 76: 1195–1205
Thilenius J.F. and Brown G.R. (1974). Long-term effects of chemical control of big sagebrush. J. Range Manage. 27: 223–224
Torbit S.C., Carpenter L.H., Swift D.M. and Alldredge A.W. (1985). Differential loss of fat and protein by mule deer during winter. J. Wildlife Manage. 49: 80–85
Towne G. and Owensby C. (1984). Long-term effects of annual burning at different dates in ungrazed Kansas tallgrass prairie. J. Range Manage. 37: 392–397
Tracy F.T. and McNaughton S.J. (1997). Elk grazing and vegetation responses following a late season fire in Yellowstone National Park. Plant Ecol. 130: 11–119
Turner C.L., Blair J.M., Schartz R.J. and Neel J.C. (1997). Soil N and plant responses to fire, topography, and supplemental N in tallgrass prairie. Ecology 78: 1832–1843
Turner M.G., Wu Y., Wallace L.L., Romme W.H. and Brenkert A. (1994). Simulating winter interactions among ungulates, vegetation, and fire in northern Yellowstone Park. Ecol. Appl. 4: 472–496
Dibenedetto J.P., Thomas S.C. and Dyke F.G. (1991). Vegetation and elk response to prescribed burning in south-central Montana. In: Keiter, R.B. and Boyce, M.S. (eds) The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Redefining America’s Wilderness Heritage, pp 163–179. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
DeBoer M.J., Dyke F.G. and Beek G.M. (1996). Winter range plant production and elk use following prescribed burning. In: Greenlee, J.M. (eds) The Ecological Implications of Fire in Greater Yellowstone, pp 193–200. International Association of Wildland. Fire, Fairfield, Washington, U.S.A
Klein W.C. and Dyke F.G. (1996). Response of elk to installation of oil wells. J. Mammal. 77: 1028–1041
Klein W.C., Stewart S.T. and Dyke F. (1998). Long-term range fidelity in Rocky Mountain elk. J. Wildlife Manage. 61: 1020–1036
Vinton M.A., Hartnett D.C., Finck E.J. and Briggs J.M. (1992). Interactive effects of fire, bison (Bison bison) grazing and plant community composition in tallgrass prairie. Am. Midland Nat. 129: 10–18
Wambolt C.L., Walhof K.S. and Frisina M.R. (2001). Recovery of big sagebrush communities after burning in south-western Montana. J. Environ. Manage. 61: 243–252
West N.E. and Hassan M.S. (1985). Recovery of sagebrush-grass vegetation following wildlife. J. Range Manage. 38: 131–134
Wright H.A. and Bailey A.W. (1982). Fire Ecology, United States and Canada. Wiley, New York
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Van Dyke, F., Darragh, J.A. Short- and Long-term Changes in Elk Use and Forage Production in Sagebrush Communities Following Prescribed Burning. Biodivers Conserv 15, 4375–4398 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-005-4383-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-005-4383-3