Effects of prescribed fire on woody vegetation in a gallery forest understory in northeastern Kansas

TitleEffects of prescribed fire on woody vegetation in a gallery forest understory in northeastern Kansas
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1988
AuthorsAbrams, MD
JournalTransactions of the Kansas Academy of Science
Volume91
Pagination63 -70
Accession NumberKNZ00167
Keywordsgallery forest
Abstract

Woody vegetation in the understory of a gallery forest dominated by large bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) trees in eastern Kansas was surveyed before (1983) and after two years of annual prescribed burning in April (1984 and 1985). Elm (Ulmus spp.) was the dominant reproduction on the area before burning and increased after burning because of prolific basal sprouting. Five rarer species, including bur oak and chinquapin oak (Q. muehlenbergii), were recorded in 1983 or 1984, but were absent in 1985. Sapling density averaged 1200 per ha prior to burning in 1983 and 0.0 after burning in 1984 and 1985. Total shrub cover significantly decreased from 59.9 percent in 1983 to 9.5 percent in 1985, as a result of decreases in buckbrush (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus) and rough-leaf dogwood (Cornus drummondii)

DOI10.2307/3628339