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Date of Award
2018
Publisher
North Dakota State University
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Awarded
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Program
Natural Resources Management
Department
Natural Resources Management
College
Agriculture, Food Systems and Natural Resources
Faculty Advisor
DeKeyser, Edward S.
Description
Smooth brome (Bromus inermis) invasion into tallgrass prairie has led to development of methods of control. Prescribed burning is used by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to manage prairie according to a provisional model developed by Willson and Stubbendieck (2000). The model recommends conducting a prescribed burn at the onset of elongation of smooth brome. The USFWS uses the 5-leaf stage as a phenological cue, signaling the initiation of elongation. Variability in smooth brome development limits the reliability of this method. Our objective was to develop an alternative method to determine when smooth brome populations reach the targeted 50% elongation by correlating accumulated growing degree days and population level plant phenological stages (mean stage count) throughout sites in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota. A linear regression model was used to determine the onset of elongation in the smooth brome population, regardless of leaf stage variation. Field and greenhouse studies confirmed accumulated growing degree days predicted the initiation of elongation. We also compared smooth brome response to different seasonal burn treatments, determining it could be decreased by burning at other times. As part of the USFWS Native Prairie Adaptive Management program, results will be used to assist management decisions regarding the timing of control.
Recommended Citation
Preister, Lisa, "Smooth Brome (Bromus Inermis) Phenology in the Northern Tallgrass Prairie" (2018). Natural Resources Management. 101.
https://digitalcommons.ndsu.edu/nrm/101
Rights
NDSU policy 190.6.2
Rights Link
https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf
Handle Identifier
https://hdl.handle.net/10365/27461