Deep Well Burn Line Transects

A natural burn occurred on the Deep Well area of McKenzie Flats in June, 1995 that allowed initiation of studies to evaluate the effect of fire on plant species and the spatial and temporal dynamics of plant regrowth following this disturbance. The burn area was approximately 24 ha and burned in a swath approximately 200 m wide from the initial lightning-ignition source. The fire moved in a westward direction from the ignition spot leaving a relatively straight edge along the southern boundary and a irregular edge along the northern boundary. The fire went out naturally. One week after the burn, four 100 m line-intercept transects were established on the southern boundary of the burn; 50 m inside the burn area and 50 m outside in the unburned grassland. The 50 m mark of the 100 m tape was located exactly on the burn edge and the transect line was placed at an angle of 90 degrees (right angle) to the burn edge. The first transect (nearest the road) was placed 100 m from the west end of the burn and identified as transect A. The remainging transects (B,C,D) were located at 200 m intervals from transect A. The transects had rebar placed at the 0 m, 50 m and 100 m points and were located with a GPS unit. The first line-intercept transects were performed in October, 1995. In the subsequent years, the transects were run in late May and late September to evaluate responses in "cool season" and "warm season" plant species. Another fire occurred on June 24, 2001 and measurements have been continued to be taken. The 2001 burn only burned the south ends of the transect that did not burn in 1995. A prescribed burn in 2003 did not affect the burn transects. This dataset is comprised of measurements taken in the spring and fall of 2005