Fire Effects Monitoring for Trees and Shrubs at George Washington Carver National Monument.

摘要

Concern over the expansion of shrubs and trees in the prairie at George Washington Carver National Monument has prompted intense management efforts. These efforts include increased fire frequency from a previously highly variable frequency and expansion of herbicide treatments by the exotic plant management team. We initiated belt transect sampling in the northern prairie in 2011 to evaluate the effectiveness of these treatments. All live tree and shrub stems were counted in transects that were 100 m long by 6 m wide. In 2012, both the northern and southern prairies were sampled by this method. In the northern prairie, stem densities decreased from 2011 to 2012 for a small number of species post-fire, although stems increased by 2.9% overall. Fewer trees and shrubs were found in the southern prairie than the northern prairie (9 vs 12) in 2012. Additional treatments are needed to reduce these populations further.