Effects of Prescribed Fire and Tree Girdling Treatments on Ground Layer Vegetation Recruitment and Ecosystem Structure in a Degraded Oak Savanna Ecosystem
Location
Hager-Lubbers Exhibition Hall
Description
Oak savannas are critically imperiled, fire-dependent ecosystems. The term oak savanna refers to various community types, including oak openings, oak barrens, oak-pine barrens, pine barrens, bur oak plains, and lake plain openings. These biodiversity-rich and structurally unique habitats provide critical ecological functions and services, such as providing habitat for our native pollinators and birds. Fire suppression and land use changes have resulted in the widespread loss and degradation of these communities. These fire-dependent communities have transitioned to closed-canopy forests, creating microclimatic conditions that continually favor the recruitment and dominance of mesophytic, shade-tolerant species and the deterioration of shade-intolerant savanna species. As a result, oak savannas are some of the most imperiled ecosystems worldwide, in the Midwest and Great Lakes region and here in Michigan. In restoring these ecosystems, land managers have often implemented prescribed burning with traditional canopy thinning techniques. What has not been adequately explored is the combination of prescribed burning and girdling: a thinning technique where trees are killed but left standing as snags, potentially providing wildlife habitat. We are conducting a study that examines ecosystem responses to a combination of prescribed burning and tree girdling treatments; treatments were implemented to increase native vegetation recruitment in the ground layer. We are collecting data on ground layer vegetation, ground surface conditions, soil characteristics, and canopy cover in areas that have experienced treatments and those that have not. We hope our findings will help land managers assess the effectiveness of these treatments and inform future restoration decisions.
Effects of Prescribed Fire and Tree Girdling Treatments on Ground Layer Vegetation Recruitment and Ecosystem Structure in a Degraded Oak Savanna Ecosystem
Hager-Lubbers Exhibition Hall
Oak savannas are critically imperiled, fire-dependent ecosystems. The term oak savanna refers to various community types, including oak openings, oak barrens, oak-pine barrens, pine barrens, bur oak plains, and lake plain openings. These biodiversity-rich and structurally unique habitats provide critical ecological functions and services, such as providing habitat for our native pollinators and birds. Fire suppression and land use changes have resulted in the widespread loss and degradation of these communities. These fire-dependent communities have transitioned to closed-canopy forests, creating microclimatic conditions that continually favor the recruitment and dominance of mesophytic, shade-tolerant species and the deterioration of shade-intolerant savanna species. As a result, oak savannas are some of the most imperiled ecosystems worldwide, in the Midwest and Great Lakes region and here in Michigan. In restoring these ecosystems, land managers have often implemented prescribed burning with traditional canopy thinning techniques. What has not been adequately explored is the combination of prescribed burning and girdling: a thinning technique where trees are killed but left standing as snags, potentially providing wildlife habitat. We are conducting a study that examines ecosystem responses to a combination of prescribed burning and tree girdling treatments; treatments were implemented to increase native vegetation recruitment in the ground layer. We are collecting data on ground layer vegetation, ground surface conditions, soil characteristics, and canopy cover in areas that have experienced treatments and those that have not. We hope our findings will help land managers assess the effectiveness of these treatments and inform future restoration decisions.