Post-Fire Response of Perennial Grass Communities at McKenzie Flats, Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, 1998 and 2001

We evaluated the effects of a lightning-initiated fire on responses of vegetation communities. Following a fire in July 1998, 25 experimental plots were established on the eastern edge of MacKenzie Flats at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. Ten of these plots were located in a Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama)- dominated site, while 15 were established in another area dominated by Bouteloua eriopoda (black grama). We evaluated basal and aerial cover of all plant species at the community level using a vertical line point intercept method along transects within plots. Sampling was conducted immediately after the fire during the last week of July 1998, and again in September and October of 2001.