Post-fire responses of perennial grass populations, McKenzie Flats, SNWR, 1998 and 2001

We evaluated the effects of a lightning-initiated fire on resprouting responses of perennial grasses at the population level. Following the fire in July 1998, 25 experimental plots were established on the eastern edge of MacKenzie Flats at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. Ten of these plots were located in a Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama)-dominated site, while 15 were established in another area dominated by Bouteloua eriopoda (black grama). We evaluated basal cover of perennial grasses in systematically positioned quadrats (subsamples) within plots immediately after the fire during the last week of July 1998, and in September-October 2001