Burning and Mowing Effect on Underground Carbon and Nitrogen in Tallgrass Prairie

Abstract

As multiple factors influence the biotic processes of prairie ecosystems, it is important to investigate the effects of their interactions. The historical impact of grazing and fire on tallgrass prairies has led to exten-sive research on their aboveground effects, however little is known about belowground effects. We hoped that further study of the belowground processes would contribute to conservation efforts. However, we worked under the assumption that mowing would produce similar results to grazing. Due to documented morphological differences in plant reactions to burning and grazing we expected that the combined treat-ments of burning and mowing would also have different effects on root growth and nutrient cycling. Our study examined the effects of different treatment combinations on belowground processes through root productivity, carbon and nitrogen content and the C:N ratio of the roots and soil. We took core samples from a series of plots with combination treatments of burning and mowing. Although previous research suggests that grazing and burning have a significant interactive effect, we found no significant effect of burning or mowing in the majority of our data. We found a significant difference in the percent of carbon in the soil; in the absence of fire, mowing decreased the percent carbon. This may be a result of a combination of many factors.