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Author(s):
Brittany G. Johnson, Dale W. Johnson, Jeanne C. Chambers, Robert R. Blank
Year Published:

Cataloging Information

Topic(s):
Fire Effects
Ecological - Second Order
Soils
Vegetation
Ecosystem(s):
Sagebrush steppe, Lower montane/foothills/valley grassland

NRFSN number: 11453
FRAMES RCS number: 10477
Record updated:

Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.), an invasive annual grass, is displacing native species and causing increased fire frequency in the Great Basin of the southwestern United States. Growth and nitrogen uptake patterns by cheatgrass were examined in a greenhouse study using soils from sites with the same soil type but different fire histories: 1) an area that burned in 1999 that is now completely invaded with cheatgrass (CG); 2) an area that has not burned recently and is now dominated by Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis Beetle and Young) and Sandberg's bluegrass (Poa secunda J. Presl) (WBS); and 3) a Wyoming big sagebrush area that burned in August of 2008 just prior to soil collection (NB). Cheatgrass seedlings had higher leaf numbers, height and mass in the NB soil. Ammonium-N mobilized by fire in the NB soil had significantly enriched 15N than soils from CG or WBS sites and this pattern was reflected in the isotopic signatures of the plants. Fire-mobilized mineral N accounted for only 58% of N taken up by cheatgrass in the NB soil, suggesting fire enhanced the ability of cheatgrass to assimilate more recalcitrant soil organic N.

Citation

Johnson, Brittany G.; Johnson, Dale W.; Chambers, Jeanne C.; Blank, Robert R. 2011. Fire effects on the mobilization and uptake of nitrogen by cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.). Plant Soil. 341: 437-445.

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