%A Penner, A.
%A Waickman, C.
%A Yoon, E.
%D 2012
%T  The effect of prescribed fire and elevation on  Ribes missouriensis  and  Celtis occidentalis 
%K 
%X Fire and elevation in oak forests play an important role in competition between shrubs and saplings, as awell as in processes of succession. We measure the effects of prescribed fire and elevation on abundance, height, stem width, and stem count of the shrub  Ribes missouriensis  and the saplings of the tree  Celtis occidentalis  in 10 burned and 9 unburned experimental forest plots in the oak hickory forest at the Conard Environmental Research Area near Kellogg, Iowa. Between 5 October 2009 and 4 November 2009, we counted the total number of plants of both species between .2 and 2 meters in height and measured height and stem width of three randomly selected individuals of both species in each plot. A significantly lower abundance of both species was found in burned plots. We also found significantly smaller heights and stem widths for  C. occidentalis  and stem count for  R. missouriensis .  C. occidentalis  and elevation were significantly positively correlated, while  R. missouriensis  and elevation were significantly negatively correlated. The results of our study suggest that late successional oak forests will become dominated by shade-tolerant species such as  C. occidentalis  in the absence of fire disturbances. Our results suggest that elevation significantly affects the success of certain oak forest plant species, but further research is necessary to conclusively determine what causes these patterns.
%U https://ojs.grinnell.edu/index.php/tillers/article/view/48
%J Tillers
%0 Journal Article
%P 11-16%V 6
%8 2012-06-04