High Mortality of Huisache (<i>Vachellia farnesiana</i>) with Extreme Fire During Drought
The almost complete eradication of fire from grasslands in North America has led to non-linear hysteretic transitions to shrub- and woodlands that the reintroduction of low-intensity fire is unable to reverse. We explore the ability of the extreme ends of variation in fire behavior to help overcome...
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Fire |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/8/7/242 |
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| author | Victoria M. Donovan Allie V. Schiltmeyer Carissa L. Wonkka Jacob Wagner Devan A. McGranahan William E. Rogers Urs P. Kreuter Dirac Twidwell |
| author_facet | Victoria M. Donovan Allie V. Schiltmeyer Carissa L. Wonkka Jacob Wagner Devan A. McGranahan William E. Rogers Urs P. Kreuter Dirac Twidwell |
| author_sort | Victoria M. Donovan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The almost complete eradication of fire from grasslands in North America has led to non-linear hysteretic transitions to shrub- and woodlands that the reintroduction of low-intensity fire is unable to reverse. We explore the ability of the extreme ends of variation in fire behavior to help overcome hysteretic threshold behaviors in huisache (<i>Vachellia farnesiana</i>) encroached grasslands. We contrasted experimental fire treatments with unburned control areas to assess the ability of extreme fires burned during drought to alter the density and structure of huisache. We found that extreme fires reduced the density of huisache by over 30% compared to control plots, both through driving huisache mortality and reducing the number of new recruits following treatments. For instance, extreme fire drove 48% huisache mortality compared to 4% in control treatments. For surviving plants, the number of stems increased but the crown area did not significantly change. Prescribed fire, conducted under the right conditions, can drive high mortality in one of the most notorious encroaching species in the southern U.S. Great Plains. With the fire conditions observed in this study likely to increase under future climate projections, utilizing extreme fire as a management tool for huisache will help scale up management to meet the growing extent of woody encroachment into grasslands. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-95ea7cc4fc2145bf91c65560f958024c |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2571-6255 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Fire |
| spelling | doaj-art-95ea7cc4fc2145bf91c65560f958024c2025-08-20T02:45:56ZengMDPI AGFire2571-62552025-06-018724210.3390/fire8070242High Mortality of Huisache (<i>Vachellia farnesiana</i>) with Extreme Fire During DroughtVictoria M. Donovan0Allie V. Schiltmeyer1Carissa L. Wonkka2Jacob Wagner3Devan A. McGranahan4William E. Rogers5Urs P. Kreuter6Dirac Twidwell7West Florida Research and Education Center, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Milton, FL 32583, USADepartment of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583, USAWest Florida Research and Education Center, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Milton, FL 32583, USANebraska Game and Parks Commission, Lincoln, NE 68503, USAUSDA Agricultural Research Service, Livestock & Range Research Laboratory, Miles City, MT 59301, USADepartment of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USADepartment of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USADepartment of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583, USAThe almost complete eradication of fire from grasslands in North America has led to non-linear hysteretic transitions to shrub- and woodlands that the reintroduction of low-intensity fire is unable to reverse. We explore the ability of the extreme ends of variation in fire behavior to help overcome hysteretic threshold behaviors in huisache (<i>Vachellia farnesiana</i>) encroached grasslands. We contrasted experimental fire treatments with unburned control areas to assess the ability of extreme fires burned during drought to alter the density and structure of huisache. We found that extreme fires reduced the density of huisache by over 30% compared to control plots, both through driving huisache mortality and reducing the number of new recruits following treatments. For instance, extreme fire drove 48% huisache mortality compared to 4% in control treatments. For surviving plants, the number of stems increased but the crown area did not significantly change. Prescribed fire, conducted under the right conditions, can drive high mortality in one of the most notorious encroaching species in the southern U.S. Great Plains. With the fire conditions observed in this study likely to increase under future climate projections, utilizing extreme fire as a management tool for huisache will help scale up management to meet the growing extent of woody encroachment into grasslands.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/8/7/242high-intensity firehysteresisprescribed firegrassland restorationresprouting<i>Vachellia farnesiana</i> |
| spellingShingle | Victoria M. Donovan Allie V. Schiltmeyer Carissa L. Wonkka Jacob Wagner Devan A. McGranahan William E. Rogers Urs P. Kreuter Dirac Twidwell High Mortality of Huisache (<i>Vachellia farnesiana</i>) with Extreme Fire During Drought Fire high-intensity fire hysteresis prescribed fire grassland restoration resprouting <i>Vachellia farnesiana</i> |
| title | High Mortality of Huisache (<i>Vachellia farnesiana</i>) with Extreme Fire During Drought |
| title_full | High Mortality of Huisache (<i>Vachellia farnesiana</i>) with Extreme Fire During Drought |
| title_fullStr | High Mortality of Huisache (<i>Vachellia farnesiana</i>) with Extreme Fire During Drought |
| title_full_unstemmed | High Mortality of Huisache (<i>Vachellia farnesiana</i>) with Extreme Fire During Drought |
| title_short | High Mortality of Huisache (<i>Vachellia farnesiana</i>) with Extreme Fire During Drought |
| title_sort | high mortality of huisache i vachellia farnesiana i with extreme fire during drought |
| topic | high-intensity fire hysteresis prescribed fire grassland restoration resprouting <i>Vachellia farnesiana</i> |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/8/7/242 |
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