FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Muhlenbergia cuspidata | Plains Muhly 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
NO-ENTRY


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Like other warm-season grasses, plains muhly is generally favored by
early spring or winter burns.  In the northern Great Plains mixed
prairie, spring burning results in an increase in herbage production of
warm-season grasses.  Thus, forage resources on cool-season northern
mixed prairie ranges can be supplemented with warm-season grasses.  The
effects of burning may be enhanced or negated by the interactive effects
of grazing following burning [[15].

After a hot, late May wildfire in a mesic prairie in the northern Great
Plains, the frequency of plains muhly plants remained the same or
increased [23].  A different study in the mixed-grass prairie of the
northern Great Plains also showed that the frequency of plains muhly
remained unchanged or increased after spring burning.  In the tallgrass
prairie of the northern Great Plains, muhly species were usually harmed
by fire, although some data showed either no change or an increase in
plant vigor after fires [16].

A spring fire in a snowberry (Symphoricarpos occidentalis) shrub
community in central Alberta resulted in grass coverage remaining high 3
years after burning [1].  In Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota,
plains muhly increased after a winter burn.  This may have been due to a
decrease in competition from cool-season grasses [15].  However, in a
semidesert grass-shrub type, plains muhly appeared to be seriously
harmed by fire [20].


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Species: Muhlenbergia cuspidata | Plains Muhly