Different behavioral patterns of the earthworms Octolasion tyrtaeum and Diplocardia spp. in tallgrass prairie soils: potential influences on plant growth

2001 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mac Callaham ◽  
John Blair ◽  
Paul Hendrix
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Tallgrass Prairie ◽  
Behavioral Patterns ◽  
Prairie Soils ◽  
Octolasion Tyrtaeum

Response of carbonicolous ascomycetes to aerated steam temperatures and treatment intervals

1978 ◽  
Vol 56 (19) ◽  
pp. 2313-2318 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Zak ◽  
D. T. Wicklow
Keyword(s):  
Tallgrass Prairie ◽  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Temperature Treatment ◽  
Steam Treatment ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
High Frequencies ◽  
Prairie Soils ◽  
Prairie Soil ◽  
Grassland Fire

This laboratory study was designed to examine the response of a postfire ascomycete community to elevated temperatures and treatment intervals corresponding to those recorded during the burning of a tallgrass prairie. Aerated steam treatment of prairie soil samples (35, 40, 55, 70, 85, or 100 °C) for intervals of 60, 100, 140, or 180 s enabled us to examine the response of individual species comprising the carbonicolous ascomycete community.Simulation of a grassland fire by aerated steam treatment of prairie soils promoted the development of 20 species of ascomycetes. Generalists such as Sporomiella subtilis Ahmed and Cain occurred at high frequencies over most of the temperature range while specialists Podospora curvispora (Cain) Cain, Sordaria macrospora Awd., and Leptosphaeria sp. were important at only one temperature. Species diversity, richness, and number of species per sample were significantly affected by the temperature of the steam treatment. The temperature–treatment interval combination allowing for the greatest expression of diversity in the carbonicolous ascomycete community was 55 °C for 60 s. Since a grassland fire does not uniformly heat the soil surface, the environmental patchiness created by this physical perturbation may be an important factor in determining the composition of the carbonicolous ascomycete community in prairies.

scholarly journals Eating While the Eating’s Good: How Fire Creates a Magnet for Grazing Animals

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherry A. Leis ◽  
Carol E. Baldwin
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Tallgrass Prairie ◽  
Management Team ◽  
Microbial Life ◽  
Burned Areas ◽  
Wildlife Species ◽  
Pyric Herbivory ◽  
National Preserve

Tallgrass prairie is disappearing because farming and development have replaced it. This ecosystem is home to a unique group of plants, animals, and microbial life. The processes of fire, grazing by animals, and drought are important to the tallgrass prairie. They can influence each other and prairie life. For example, pyric-herbivory is the interaction of fire and grazing on the landscape. Burned areas attract herbivores (plant eaters) like a magnet. After fires, plant growth is nutritious and easy to find. Herbivores prefer grazing recently burned areas, creating patches of different habitats that support many other wildlife species, too. You can see pyric-herbivory in action at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, where fire, cattle, and bison are a part of the preserve’s management team! Healthy tallgrass prairie needs both fire and grazing.

Effects of available P and N:P ratios on non-symbiotic dinitrogen fixation in tallgrass prairie soils

Oecologia ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. A. Eisele ◽  
D. S. Schimel ◽  
L. A. Kapustka ◽  
W. J. Parton
Keyword(s):  
Tallgrass Prairie ◽  
Dinitrogen Fixation ◽  
Available P ◽  
Prairie Soils ◽  
N:P Ratios

Reconstructing the Microbial Diversity and Function of Pre-Agricultural Tallgrass Prairie Soils in the United States

Science ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 342 (6158) ◽  
pp. 621-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Fierer ◽  
J. Ladau ◽  
J. C. Clemente ◽  
J. W. Leff ◽  
S. M. Owens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Microbial Diversity ◽  
Tallgrass Prairie ◽  
The United States ◽  
Prairie Soils ◽  
And Function

Relationship between mycorrhizal activity, burning, and plant productivity in tallgrass prairie

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (12) ◽  
pp. 2597-2602 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Bentivenga ◽  
B. A. D. Hetrick
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Tallgrass Prairie ◽  
Mycorrhizal Fungi ◽  
Warm Season ◽  
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal ◽  
Mycorrhizal Colonization ◽  
Prairie Grasses ◽  
Vesicular Arbuscular ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time

The impact of benomyl fungicide and spring burning on mycorrhizal activity and plant growth was assessed in tallgrass prairie in Kansas. We report for the first time that the productivity of mycotrophic plants can be reduced by inhibition of indigenous vesicular–arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi under field conditions. A vital stain, nitro blue tetrazolium, used to assess active mycorrhizal colonization, proved to be a more sensitive measure of treatment effects than the cell wall stain, trypan blue. Burning stimulated both plant growth and active mycorrhizal colonization. However, by 32 days after burning no differences in colonization were detected. Our observations support the hypothesis that mycorrhizal fungi play an important role in the growth of warm-season tallgrass prairie grasses and may contribute to enhanced plant growth of warm-season tallgrass prairie grasses and may contribute to enchanced plant growth following spring burning. Key words: burning, benomyl fungicide, phosphorus, tallgrass prairie, VA mycorrhizae, warm-season grasses.

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