LLL prescribed burn- One month post burn

It's been a dry month; however, we did get 0.99 in spread out over three days last week. It doesn't make up for the hole we're in, but it is enough to start to see some response on the burn unit.

Late summer fires tend to promote forb growth, and suppress warm season grasses to a certain extent. This is because warm season grasses have just poured a tremendous amount of energy into reproduction (flower and seed growth) and removing the energy collection portions of the plant (the leaves) doesn't allow the plant to store much energy for winter, and thus, next spring's growth. We burned in late July, so while warm season grasses might take a slight hit, there should be a good balance between forbs and grass regeneration.

ONE MONTH PHOTO POINTS

Still doesn't look like much response from the photo points, but that spot is at the highest elevation, and some of the poorest soil. If you look closely, you can see some forbs.


Grass regrowth

Scarlet globemallow ( Sphaeralcea coccinea) responding

Mesquite

Fire is part of what kept mesquite density low on the Llano Estacado. Regular fire supresses and can kill mesquite; however, mesquite older than about three years, resprout mesquite, and mesquite that has had its bud zone buried is largely immune to normal fire.

Example:
Looks dead

Look closer:

It is already resprouting.

We set back quite a bit mesquite on this fire, but it had been seven years since the last fire in this pasture. So, some of it escaped death.

There are also some new mesquite sprouts showing up after the rain. This is too be expected; fire is not a one time use thing (no management tool is for that matter).

There were quite a few other forbs beginning to emerge. I couldn't identify all of them, but buffalo gourd, scarlet globe mallow, ragweed, , silverleaf nightshade and several others were coming up. If we get our fall rain, it should really take off before winter.

Speaking of taking off, I'm about to hit the busy part of my year, so I probably will not update the post fire monitoring until winter, and then perhaps once spring green-up begins.

Posted on August 22, 2018 09:55 PM by rowdius rowdius

Observations

Photos / Sounds

What

Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 10:01 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn.

Swarm of bees in saltbush in prescribed burn unit.

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Caterpillar-hunter Beetles (Genus Calosoma)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:26 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Blue Grama (Bouteloua gracilis)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:33 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Broom Snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:55 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Dicots (Class Magnoliopsida)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:23 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Buffalo Gourd (Cucurbita foetidissima)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:30 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Bundleflowers (Genus Desmanthus)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:35 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Grasses (Family Poaceae)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:18 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Probably blue grama, but I don't know.

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Grasses (Family Poaceae)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:56 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Horse Crippler Cactus (Homalocephala texensis)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:57 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:44 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Dicots (Class Magnoliopsida)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:31 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Mammals

Photos / Sounds

What

Mammals (Class Mammalia)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:34 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn.

Probably Sylvilagus

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Ragweeds (Genus Ambrosia)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:28 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

I'm not 100% convinced that this is ragweed.

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Scarlet Globemallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:41 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Acacias, Mimosas, Mesquites, and Allies (Subfamily Mimosoideae)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:18 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Acacias, Mimosas, Mesquites, and Allies (Subfamily Mimosoideae)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:19 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Honey Mesquite (Neltuma glandulosa)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 11:26 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn.

Good example of mesquite resilience against fire. Had the fine fuel load been higher, it would have slowed down, but not prevent resprouting.

However, fire is an excellent management tool against mesquite less than two years old.

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:40 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:51 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Western Ragweed (Ambrosia psilostachya)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:21 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:49 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Prickly Pears (Genus Opuntia)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:55 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 11:36 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Barbatus-group Harvester Ants (Complex Pogonomyrmex barbatus)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:47 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Fourwing Saltbush (Atriplex canescens)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:37 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Silverleaf Nightshade (Solanum elaeagnifolium)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:32 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Silverleaf Nightshade (Solanum elaeagnifolium)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:54 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Curve-billed Thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:45 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn
Probably curved-bill, but I haven't looked at it enough yet.

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Spider Wasps (Family Pompilidae)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:49 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Prickly Russian Thistle (Salsola tragus)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:53 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Longleaf Buckwheat (Eriogonum longifolium)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:36 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Longleaf Buckwheat (Eriogonum longifolium)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:57 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 11:28 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

Photos / Sounds

What

Yuccas (Genus Yucca)

Observer

rowdius

Date

August 22, 2018 09:23 AM CDT

Description

One month post-burn

Tags

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