Description

A 3-patch, spring-burn patch burn grazing system was compared to a grazing system in which pastures were burned in their entirety during the first of a three year study. At the treatment level, there were no detectable differences in measures of vegetation structure or diversity between patch burn grazing pastures and the other pastures. At the patch level, however, patch burn grazing pastures were characterized by greater heterogeneity in vegetation structure. Plant species composition was likely influenced to a greater degree by pasture ownership, a proxy for management history, and soil properties than it was by treatment. However, it was noted that treatment effects might be apparent after application of treatments for a greater period of time (treatments were applied for only a three-year period). A treatment effect was not apparent when bird abundances were assessed. An effect of some landscape variables, such as perimeter to area ratio, distance to nearest wooded edge, and percent total woodland, was apparent. Study pastures were likely too small to detect any effects of patch burn grazing on grassland birds such as those detected in other studies that were conducted in larger pastures.