The Moquah Barrens (Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Wisconsin) has been under prescribed fire management since 1970. The management area was significantly expanded in 2009 through the Northwest Sands project, and there are currently 23,000 acres of barrens and savanna being restored. Some regions within the management area have been burned up to 10 times in the past 50 years. Immediately adjacent to the management area, including within the Research Natural Area, are unburned regions. Our goal was to compare traits of plants in early restoration areas (2-5 Rx burns), late restoration areas (9-10 Rx burns), and non-restored areas (>50 years without fire) to investigate whether prescribed fire management influences plant traits related to fire tolerance. During the summer of 2019, the LSFSC intern completed weekly phenology surveys and monthly plant trait measurements of six common barrens plant species at 12 field sites. Whole plants were also harvested at the end of the study. We will present our preliminary findings along with the potential to use plant trait surveys to continue monitoring success of pine barrens restoration.

Part of the February 2020 LSFSC Intern Webinar.