Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #350962
Research Project: Towards Resilient Agricultural Systems to Enhance Water Availability, Quality, and Other Ecosystem Services under Changing Climate and Land Use

Location: Location not imported yet.

Title: Burning of the native and improved grasslands of the Southern Plains: A typical management practices effects on mycorrhizal fungi abundance

Author
item Peterson-Munks, Brekke
item Steiner, Jean

Submitted to: Ecological Society of America (ESA)
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2018
Publication Date: 8/7/2018
Citation: Peterson-Munks, B.L., Steiner, J.L. 2018. Burning of the native and improved grasslands of the Southern Plains: A typical management practices effects on mycorrhizal fungi abundance [abstract]. Ecological Society of America (ESA). Available at: https://eco.confex.com/eco/2018/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/70661.

Interpretive Summary: Abstract only

Technical Abstract: Perennial grasslands in the Southern Plains are important agricultural ecosystems that support cattle production. Typically, these grasslands consist of native or a monoculture species. Fire is a management tool to improve forage quality, remove biomass and suppress weedy species. This management tool may have an effect on microbial communities, including arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in the soil. We investigated the effects of fire in a pristine tallgrass prairie and a monoculture Old World Bluestem [(Bothriochloa sp.); (Dicanthium sp.)] pasture in Oklahoma. Preliminary results indicate that fire has an immediate effect on decreasing the population of AM fungi, however, the recovery of the AM fungi is seen as soon as one week post fire in native pasture. Results suggest that aboveground biodiversity aids in AM fungi recovery.