An Evaluation of Grassland Management Practices for Wildlife in Central Wisconsin
File(s)
Date
1981-12Author
Halvorsen, Harvey H.
Publisher
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, College of Natural Resources
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This study was conducted during 1977 and 1978 to evaluate
grassland management techniques on selected parts of a 4765-ha prairie
chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) management area within the Buena
Vista Marsh in central Wisconsin. Plants were inventoried in randomly
located permanent quadrats in treatment and control plots the growing
season before and after treatments. Small mammals and birds were
censused on treatment and control plots before (1977) and after (1978)
burning; insect populations were monitored on burned and control plots
in 1978.
Controlled burning had no effect on plant species composition. Spring
burning (late March - early April) maintained the
dominant cool season grasses, Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) and
quackgrass (Agropyron repens), without reducing their density, frequency
of occurrence, percent cover, or standing crop. Burning
significantly increased the moisture content of grasses from May
through July, but did not affect foliar nutrient composition throughout
the growing season. In this study, burning did not control or
convert dense stands of perennial forbs (Solidago spp.) or shrubs
(Spiraea alba) into earlier grass-forb successional stages. These
plants reproduce by underground rhizomes and are relatively unaffected
by the present burning program.
Post burn density of savannah sparrows ( Passerculus sandwichensis)
and clay-colored sparrows (Spizella pallida) declined 80
and 94% respectively. Fire-altered habitat did not affect the relative abundance of meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) or short-tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda), increased the relative abundance
of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) and meadow jumping mice (Zapus
hudsonius), but reduced the combined relative abundance of masked
shrews (Sorex cinereus) and pigmy shrews (Microsorex hoyi). Arthropod
biomass and density sweep-netted on burned and unburned grasslands
were not significantly different.
Herbicide treatment significantly reduced the density and
percent cover of goldenrod (Solidago spp.). Plant species composition
was unaltered by chemical treatment. Percent cover of quackgrass
increased significantly on sprayed plots the growing season following
application.
Mowing had no statistically significant effects on stem
density or percent cover of quackgrass, Kentucky bluegrass, forbs or
shrubs. Plant species composition and frequency of occurrence were
unaltered by mowing. Stem density and height of timothy increased
significantly after mowing.
Plowing and disking significantly reduced the stem density
and percent cover of Kentucky bluegrass and meadowsweet (Spiraea alba),
but had no effect on percent cover of quackgrass or reed canary grass
(Phalaris arundinacea) the first growing season after disturbance.
Revegetation of the plowed plot occurred chiefly by regeneration of
perennial plant root fragments present in the soil. Because of this
pattern of regrowth, interspersion of dominant vegetation was similar
before and after disturbance. Plowing effectively improved the grass-forb composition within a previously dense meadowsweet cover type. Soil disturbance also increased plant species composition and
enhanced the flowering vitality of quackgrass.