Effects of prescribed fire on recruitment of Juniperus and Opuntia in a semiarid grassland watershed

Abstract

The Bernalillo Watershed Protection Project was begun in 1953 following catastrophic erosion and flooding of small communities below. Although erosion control features and protection from grazing successfully increased grass cover and stabilized watershed soils, the expansion of juniper woodland (Juniperus monosperma) into the grassland watershed prompted concern that gains in watershed stability could be reversed. In 1995, fire was reintroduced into the grassland as a means of maintaining perennial grass cover and preventing further expansion of the juniper woodland community.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the 2002 fire conference: managing fire and fuels in the remaining wildlands and open spaces of the Southwestern United States

Citation

Pendleton, Burton K.; Pendleton, Rosemary L.; White, Carleton S. 2008. Effects of prescribed fire on recruitment of Juniperus and Opuntia in a semiarid grassland watershed. In: Narog, Marcia G., tech. coord. Proceedings of the 2002 Fire Conference: Managing fire and fuels in the remaining wildlands and open spaces of the Southwestern United States. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-189. Albany, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. p. 356-357.