FIRE CASE STUDIES
SPECIES: Bison bison | Bison 



CASE NAME : 
Cone Burn Study, Wind Cave National Park


REFERENCE: 
Bock, James H.; Bock Carl. E. [n.d.] [5]


SEASON/SEVERITY CLASSIFICATION : 
fall/low-moderate


STUDY LOCATION : 
The study was located on a small knob in the northwest corner of Wind
Cave National Park, Custer County, South Dakota.


PREFIRE HABITAT : 
This study was located in a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forest and
pomderosa pine-grassland ecotone.  The dominant species in the canopy
was ponderosa pine.  Common understory species included sedges (Carex
spp.), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii var. gerardii), little bluestem
(Schizachyrium scoparium), Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda), sideoats
grama (Bouteloua curtipendula), blue grama (B. gracilis), hairy grama
(B. hirsuta), needlegrass (Stipa spp.), wheatgrass, leadplant (Amorpha
canescens), pulsatilla (Pulsatilla patens), Louisiana sagewort
(Artemisia ludoviciana), beautiful shootingstar (Dodecatheon
pulchellum), and western snowberry (Symphoricarpos occidentalis).


SITE DESCRIPTION : 
A detailed description of the site was not given.


FIRE DESCRIPTION : 
Conditions for the prescribed fire (the "Cone Burn") were met at mid-day
October 17, 1979, when the wind was about 10 miles per hour (16 km/h),
temperature was 58 degrees Fahrenheit (14.4 deg C) and relative humidity
was 45 percent.  The fire passed over a 156 acre (63 ha) area in about 4
hours.  A few standing dead snags on the north and west faces of the
area were still burning at mid-morning the following day, when they were
extinguished by a rain shower.  Fire varied from discontinuous,
low-severity (leaving some patches unburned) to crowning behavior.
Combustion of surface fuels was nearly complete, except in unburned
patches.


FIRE EFFECTS ON ANIMAL SPECIES AND HABITAT : 
Effect on vegetation - Vegetation was measured 1 year before the fire
and for 2 years after (May-June of 1980 and 1981) the fire.  Plants that
increased as a result of the fire included sedges, needlegrasses, and
beautiful shootingstar; bare ground also increased.  Plants reduced by
the fire included bluegrasses (Poa spp.), little bluestem (1980 only),
ponderosa pine (both canopy and immature trees), and shrubs (1980 only).
The fire caused only a modest decline in overall similarity between
experimental and control vegetation plots, and this decline persisted
through two postfire growing seasons.

Effect on bison - Bison preferred feeding on burned sites during the
first postfire growing season.  Before the fire, bison cow-calf herds
preferred the control areas.  After burning, they were attracted to the
recently burned area for feeding.  However, this grazing preference
disappeared in the second postfire year.  Before the fire, bulls
preferred the control site.  During the first postfire year the bulls
used both sites, while in the following year, they showed a preference
for the unburned site.  Small bull groups tended to defer in habitat use
to cow-calf herds.


FIRE MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS : 
This study showed that prescribed fires can be used in ponderosa
pine-grassland ecotones of the Black Hills to temporarily improve forage
for bison.

Related categories for Species: Bison bison | Bison