I would like to test effects of wildfire burning on plant - mycorrhiza interaction in a semi-arid rangeland . I will be more than happy to do this in coolabration with other scientists aroud the world
There definitely has been some work done on prescribed fire on rangelands. Much of the work I am familiar with has taken place out in western and mid-west North America. Bobby Kamansky (2008) has a dissertation out there addressing the effects of fire and grazing on vernal pools. Brady Allred (2012) also has a dissertation addressing fire-grazing interactions. Fuhlendorf and Engle (2002) published interactions b/w fire and grazing in the Journal of Applied Ecology. I am sure there are much more publications addressing this topic as well.
I did a quick Web of Science search and it appears that there is more work that has been done in other countries as well. Let me know if you need help tracking anything specific down.
-Chris
Many thanks Chris
You introduced useful references.
We would like to test effects of prescribe burning on plant-mcorrhiza interaction.
Hello. Although not precisely your subject, I recently conducted an experiment using fire on pine in collaboration with Dr. A.P. Dimitrakopoulos in Greece. Perhaps you could take a look at our approach in the publication "Early physiological consequences of fire as an abiotic stressor in metabolic source and sink of young Brutian pine (Pinus brutia Ten.)" or you could take a look at the site of A.P. Dimitrakopoulos (Laboratory of Forest Protection, Aristotle University) for info that maybe useful to you. Good luck with your research. Best regards.
Prescribed burning of heathland (sheep pasture) in NW Europe is common as is published research on the topic. Also from the dehesa (agro-sylvopastoral) in Spain several studies of prescribed burning exists; you may miss such topical papers by using the American term "rangeland".
In a review chapter (Miller, R.M., G.W.T. Wilson, and N.C. Johnson. 2012. Arbuscular Mycorrhiza and Grassland Ecosystems. Chapter 3: Pp. 59-85. In: D. Southwood (Ed.). Biocomplexity of Plant-Fungal Interactions. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, UK.) is a paragraph with several citations you might find useful. See below:
3.6.2. Mycorrhizae and Fire
Grasslands have evolved with fire. In the US Great Plains, burning is an integral component of grassland development and maintenance (Axelrod 1985; Christensen 1997). Fire management may influence AM fungal activity and community composition through its effects on vegetation and soils. For example, spring fires in tallgrass prairie increase soil temperatures and alter soil
moisture during the growing season (Knapp and Seastedt 1986; Hulbert 1988). Frequent burning decreases available nitrogen, increases soil C:N ratios, and can influence soil organisms and plant growth rates (Blair 1997; Kitchen et al. 2009). These factors also affect mycorrhizal activity and both plant and fungal community structure; however, the effects of fire on mycorrhizae vary (Dhillion and Anderson 1993). Following spring burning, spore abundance has increased and diversity decreased (Eom et al. 1999); while, mycorrhizal colonization has increased, decreased, and been unaffected (Bentivenga and Hetrick 1991; Anderson and Menges 1997; Rashid et al. 1997; Eom et al. 1999;Wilson et al. 2009). Results vary with the dominant host plants, soil type, or time since burning. Arbuscular mycorrhizae increased colonization 16 days after burning, but showed no effect 32 days after burning, suggesting a transient stimulation of mycorrhizal activity (Bentivenga and Hetrick 1991). The frequency, season, and intensity of fire influence plant species composition and productivity (Engle and Bidwell 2001; Towne and Kemp 2003). Grassland fires generally stimulate aboveand
belowground plant productivity (Briggs and Knapp 1995; Wilson et al. 2009). Repeated frequent fire increases the dominance of perennial warm-season grasses; reduces the abundance of cool-season grasses, forbs, and woody plants; and may decrease the invasibility of grasslands (Collins et al. 1998; Smith and Knapp 1999). At Konza Prairie Biological Station, long-term annual burning reduced the cover of exotic species by 80–90% (Smith and Knapp 1999).
African grasslands: Hartnett, D.C, A.F. Potgieter, and G.W.T. Wilson. 2004. Fire effects of mycorrhizal symbiosis and root system architecture in Southern African Savanna grasses. African Journal of Ecology. 42: 1-10.
Let me know if you need any of the papers cited. Hope this helps.
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