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Heavy Winter Grazing) for Promoting Heterogeneity and Improving Ecosystem Services

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Heavy Winter Grazing) for Promoting Heterogeneity and Improving Ecosystem Services South Dakota State University Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2019 The Tortoise (Wildfire) and the Hare (Heavy Winter Grazing) for Promoting Heterogeneity and Improving Ecosystem Services Lucas W. Zilverberg South Dakota State University Follow this and additional works at: https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd Part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, and the Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons Recommended Citation Zilverberg, Lucas W., "The Tortoise (Wildfire) and the Hare (Heavy Winter Grazing) for Promoting Heterogeneity and Improving Ecosystem Services" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3633. https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/3633 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i THE TORTOISE (WILDFIRE) AND THE HARE (HEAVY WINTER GRAZING) FOR PROMOTING HETEROGENEITY AND IMPROVING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES BY LUCAS W. ZILVERBERG A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science Major in Biological Sciences South Dakota State University 2019 ii THESIS ACCEPTANCE PAGE Lucas W. Zilverberg This thesis is approved as a creditable and independent investigation by a candidate for the master’s degree and is acceptable for meeting the thesis requirements for this degree. Acceptance of this does not imply that the conclusions reached by the candidate are necessarily the conclusions of the major department. Lan Xu Advisor Date Michele R. Dudash Department Head Date Dean, Graduate School Date iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank my major academic advisor, Dr. Lan Xu, for believing in me to work on this project and for pushing me to learn new and exciting topics along the way. She was in the field with me throughout my field season helping me learn new plant species and collect my data even though she had plenty of other activates she could have been doing. She continuously guided me in the direction of success throughout the whole process and I would not have been successful without her help. My other committee members also played an important role towards my success in the program. Dr. Lora Perkins was always available when I needed help with something and she even helped in a few of my thesis edits, which was extremely gracious. Dr. Arvid Boe was always around when I had questions pertaining to my thesis and future endeavors. The last of my committee members I would like to thank is Dr. Patricia Johnson. Her knowledge in rangeland management was always helpful and she was responsible for the entire project, so I would not be here today without her help. Next, I would like to thank my wife Jenna Zilverberg for staying in Brookings with me throughout my entire master’s degree and waiting to find out where our next adventure would begin. She always motivated me when things were challenging and I cannot thank her enough for her continued love and support. She truly is the best woman around and I cannot wait to see where we end up in the future. My parents have always motivated me throughout my entire life from wrestling to academics. My father’s passion for the outdoors and wildlife really made me strive to become a biologist and he has always lead me in the right direction about life. My mother has always helped me with academics since I was a little guy and has been a big part of iv my life from screaming in the wrestling corner to helping me look over my grammar in papers. Both my father and mother reached out to potential job employers to help me find a job when I was done with my degree, which is really amazing and something they did not have to do. I would like to thank Cody Zilverberg for the guidance to help me through this process. Whenever I had a question pertaining to grad school or my research he was always someone I could count on to be there and help me. I would also like to thank the all the graduate students and office staff, Kate Tvedt, Ji Young, and Beth Byre for always smiling and keeping things interesting in the office. The SDSU wrestling program has been a huge part of my life throughout the past 6-7 years from competing to coaching. I have made unbelievable lifelong friends throughout my time wrestling at SDSU and I could not have done any of it without them. The work ethic the sport has taught me and life lessons is something that I will continue to pass on to future generations. Lastly, I would like to give a special thanks to Jacob Comer for the awesome time we had at the Cottonwood Field Station from coyote hunting, falling out of a tree, four- wheeler adventures, wrestling in Phillip, and many more. We also had plenty of other great memories outside of Cottonwood and my favorite was the elk hunt or the float trip at the Niobrara. Also, Will Gallman, thanks for always listening to my complaints and for the awesome couple hunts together. We will be lifelong friends and hopefully I can make it over to see you both on the coast, so we can get together in the future. This project would not have been possible without significant financial support. This project is supported by the Renewable Energy, Natural Resources, and v Environment: Agroecosystem Management Program, Grant No. 2017-67020- 26511/Accession No. 1012384 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………….……………..……...xi LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………..…………...……….xiii LIST OF APPENDIX TABLES……………………………………..……………....…xvii LIST OF APPENDIX FIGURES……………………...…………………………..........xix ABSTRACT………………………………………………………….…………...…..…xx CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………….……..…..1 History of the Northern Great Plains………………………………..…………..1 Heterogeneity and Ecosystem Services…………………………………….…...4 Vegetation in the Northern Great Plains……………………………………..…6 Effects of Fire on Aboveground Plant Communities……….………………..…8 Effects of Grazing on Aboveground Plant Communities..………………….....10 Effects of Fire and Grazing Interaction on Plant communities……………..…12 Effects of Fire and Grazing on the Soil Seed Bank………………………....... 12 Effects of Fire and Grazing Impacts on the Bud Bank………………………...14 Research Overview………………………………………....……………..…...16 CHAPTER 2: HEAVY WINTER GRAZING AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO FIRE ON SOIL SEED BANK HETEROGENEITY IN THE NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS…………………………………………………………………………….……19 Abstract………………………………………….………….………………...….19 Introduction…………………………………………...……………...…………..20 Materials and Methods………………………………………………………..….74 Study Area………………………………………...………..……………24 vii Treatments……………………………………….………………….....…25 Experimental Design…………………………………….…………….…26 Soil Seed Bank Core Sampling………………………………………..…27 Soil Sample Process and Greenhouse Germinal Soil Seed Bank Experiment…………………………………………………………….....27 Data Collection………………………………………………………..…28 Data Analysis………………………………………….…..…………..…28 Species Composition and Functional Groups…………….…...…28 Diversity……………………………………...………………..…29 Similarity…………………………………………………..…..…30 Results……………………………………………….…………..…………….....31 Species Composition and Functional Groups………………....…31 Diversity…………………………………………...…………..…33 Similarity………………………………………………..……..…34 Discussion……………………………………………….………..…………..….34 Conclusion……………………………………………….……………………....37 CHAPTER 3: HEAVY WINTER GRAZING AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO PATCH- BURN GRAZING TO PROMOTE HETEROGENEITY AND IMPROVE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN THE NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS MIXED- GRASS PRAIRIE ………………………………………………………………...……49 Abstract……………………………………...…………….………………..…....49 Introduction………………………..…………………...……….………………..50 Materials and Methods…………………………………………………..……….54 viii Study Area…………………………………………….………………....54 Treatments…………………………………………….…..……………...55 Experimental Design…………………………………………...………...56 Data Collection…………….……………………………………..……...56 Data Analysis………………………………………….…………..……..58 Species Composition and Functional Groups………………...….58 Diversity………………………………………..……………...…59 Similarity and Community Analysis……………………………..60 Results……………………………………………….…………….…...………...64 Species Composition and Functional Groups……………..…..…64 Diversity………………………………………...………..………66 Vegetation Structure………………………………………..……67 Biomass……………………………………………………..……68 Similarity and Community Analysis Between Treatments Within the Years………………………………………………….……...68 Similarity and Community Analysis Within Treatments Over Years……………………………………………………………..70 Similarity and Community Analysis Aboveground vs. Soil Seed Bank………………………………………………………….......70 Discussion……………………………..…………………..…………………..…71 Conclusion…………………………………...……………….……………….....76 CHAPTER 4: PERFORMANCE OF CLONAL PLANT BUFFALOGRASS AFTER DISTURBANCE……………………………………….……………………..…….....100 ix Abstract……………………………………………….…………...………..…..100 Introduction……………………………………………….………………….....101 Materials and Methods…………………………………………………..……...105 Study Area………………….………………………………..………....105 Treatments…………………………………………………...….…..….106 Experimental Design………………….………………………..……….107 Sampling and Processing………………….………..………...…..…….108 Data Collection………………….…………………………………..….109 Data Analysis………………….………………………….………….....109 Crown and Stolon Tiller Production……….………………...…110 Stolon Recruitment…………………………………..….……...110
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