%0 Journal Article %J Wetlands %D 1993 %T The effect of fire on gas exchange and aboveground production in Spartina pectinata wetlands %A Johnson, S.R. %A Alan K. Knapp %K fire %K gas exchange %K prairie wetlands %K production %K Spartina pectinata %K tallgrass prairie %X Photosynthetic and growth responses ofSpartina pectinata were compared in annually and biennially burned wetlands in a northeastern Kansas tallgrass prairie. Photosynthetic CO2 uptake was consistently higher inSpartina pectinata in annually burned wetlands, and there was a seasonal difference in maximum photosynthetic rates. Plants in annually burned wetlands reached a maximum photosynthetic rate of 38.2 μmol m−2 s−1 in late spring, while maximum photosynthesis in plants of biennially burned wetlands was 28.6 μmol m−2 s−1 in late summer. Culm density in these wetlands was not affected by fire; however, aboveground biomass production, inflorescence density and plant height at anthesis were significantly greater in annually burned wetlands. These results indicate thatSpartina pectinata may be a fire-dependent species, with post-fire responses similar to the dominant grasses in tallgrass prairie as well as otherSpartina congeners. %B Wetlands %V 13 %P 299 -303 %G eng %M KNZ00410 %R 10.1007/BF03161296