Fire effects on small mammal communities in Dinosaur National Monument

Resource specialists at Dinosaur National Monument utilize both planned and unplanned wildland ignitions in big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)--dominated plant communities to restore successional processes, maintain vegetation vigor, and promote diversified landscapes. Short- and long-term effects of prescribed burning on small mammal populations are not well understood. The objectives of this study were to (1) compare small mammal species richness, similarity, and diversity between paired burned and unburned treatment plots, and (2) assess long-term trends of small mammal community responses to burning. Five paired burned/unburned sites having similar vegetation, soils, elevation, and annual precipitation were...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Western North American Naturalist, burning, community diversity, sagebrush, small mammal richness

Vegetation response to prescribed fire in Dinosaur National Monument

Much of western North America is dominated by dense, monotypic, late seral stands of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.). These stands often have depauperate understories with limited species richness, diversity, and herbaceous cover. The National Park Service at Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, is using both strategic and natural prescribed fire in Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis Beetle and Young) communi- ties to foster intra-community (α-scale) and landscape diversity. This study analyzed an accumulated foliar cover data set between paired burn and control areas on 6 different sites during the last 20 years. Across the monitoring period, mean total vegetation cover of...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Western North American Naturalist, community diversity, prescribed fire, species richness, vegetation cover