Do Soil Chemical Changes Contribute to the Dominance of Blady Grass (Imperata cylindrica) in Surface Fire-Affected Forests?PlumX View Altmetrics View AltmetricsTools Butler, O. M., Lewis, T. and Chen, C. (2021) Do Soil Chemical Changes Contribute to the Dominance of Blady Grass (Imperata cylindrica) in Surface Fire-Affected Forests? Fire, 4 (2). ISSN 2571-6255
Article Link(s): https://doi.org/10.3390/fire4020023 AbstractImperata cylindrica is a perennial grass that often proliferates in fire-affected forests. Recent fire events have been consistently associated with a lowering of soil nitrogen (N) to phosphorus (P) ratios. Thus, I. cylindrica might have a tendency toward P-limited growth and/or tolerance for low soil N availability that confers a competitive advantage post-fire. We contrasted soil and I. cylindrica chemistry between recently burned and unburned areas in eastern Australia. Imperata cylindrica foliar N:P ratios were 21% lower in burned areas than in unburned areas, reflecting an increase in the uptake of P, but not N, post-fire, consistent with P-limitation. We then grew I. cylindrica seedlings in soils with differing fire-exposure histories and subjected them to various resource amendments (including N and P addition). Survival of I. cylindrica seedlings was not affected by the fire-exposure history of soil, but was reduced by 66% through N-addition. Soil fire history did not significantly affect I. cylindrica growth, but addition of P greatly enhanced I. cylindrica growth, particularly on unburned soils. Our results indicate that the association between I. cylindrica and forest fire regime could be facilitated, in part, by the short-term positive effect of fire on soil phosphorus and the long-term positive effect of fire-exclusion on soil nitrogen, particularly on well-weathered soils.
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