2003 Prescribed Burn Effect on Chihuahuan Desert Grasses and Shrubs at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico: Grass Recovery Study (2003-2018)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife's plan to apply a prescribed burn to a
large portion of McKenzie Flats was deemed an opportunity to study
the effects of fire on vegetation at the boundary between shrubland
and grassland. This study actually was undertaken on an area that
had prescribed fire applied to 8 of 16 (300 m x 300 m) plots 10
years before in 1993. This previous study had also examined the
effects of fencing to exclude the indigenous prong-horn antelope. In
the 2003 study the prescribed fire was applied to the northeastern
half of the 16 plots while the southwestern plots were intentionally
protected. Sampling prior to the prescribed burn included
quantification of cover of grass species in quadrats within all of
the 16 plots. Measurements were made using "niner" quadrat
frames that are 30 cm x 30 cm frames that are divided into 9
1-decimeter squares. Counts of grass species were made just prior to
the June 2003 burn. Following the prescribed burn, quadrats were
remeasured in the fall of 2003 to quantify mortality of grass
species. These measurements were taken through the fall of 2012 and
the fall of 2018. Measurements were not taken for 2014-2017.