Date of Award

8-2024

Degree Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

School

Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences

Committee Chair

Dr. Micheal Davis

Committee Chair School

Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences

Committee Member 2

Dr. Mac Alford

Committee Member 2 School

Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences

Committee Member 3

Dr. Jake Schaefer

Committee Member 3 School

Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences

Abstract

Fire and grazing are two disturbances which influence vegetation composition and diversity in many ecosystems. In the southeastern United States, longleaf pine plant communities are adapted to frequent fires and are likely to have been grazed by bison in the past. Though bison have been extirpated from this region, Pineywoods Cattle, which were introduced by the Spanish in the 16th Century, have been fulfilling a similar role in many of these communities. This study examines the effects that combined grazing and controlled burning have on plant diversity, biomass, and community similarity in a longleaf pine savanna in the East Gulf Coastal Plain.

For this study, controlled burning combined with grazing yielded the highest diversity, with no burning with grazing yielding the lowest diversity. Controlled burning did not significantly affect biomass, while grazing had a significant positive effect on biomass. Treatment and sampling date had a significant effect on community similarity, with a Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling plot visualizing the similarity of groups with each other.

Overall, fire combined with grazing appears to yield the highest levels of diversity with a community composition similar to that of ungrazed-burned plots. On the other hand, unburned plots with grazing yielded the lowest diversity and was most similar to unburned-ungrazed plots. Controlled burning is an effective management tool of longleaf pine communities and is enhanced by grazing.

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