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Abstract
Semi-desert grasslands flank the “Sky Island” mountains in southern Arizona and Northern Mexico. Many of these grasslands are dominated by nonnative grasses, which potentially alter native biotic communities. One specific concern is the potential for a predicted feedback between nonnative grasses and fire. In a large-scale experiment in southern Arizona we investigated the interaction between fire season and Lehmann lovegrass, a perennial bunchgrass from Southern Africa. We observed a slightly increasing proportion of Lehmann lovegrass over time. However, this trend is not linked to fire regime. Biomass on most plots has not recovered two to three years after fire.
Parent Publication
Keywords
Cenchrus ciliarus,
Bromus rubens,
Bromus tectorum,
Eragrostis lehmanninana,
Pennisetum setaceum,
fires,
fire regimes,
grasses,
nonnative plants,
plant communities,
Arizona,
New Mexico
Citation
Geiger, Erika L.; McPherson, Guy R. 2005. No positive feedback between fire and a nonnative perennial grass. Gottfried, Gerald J.; Gebow, Brooke S.; Eskew, Lane G.; Edminster, Carleton B., comps. Connecting mountain islands and desert seas: biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago II. Proc. RMRS-P-36. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station: 465-468
