I investigated the effects of prescribed fire on Agave palmeri , an important seasonal food source of the federally Endangered bat, Leptonycteris curasoae yerbabuenae. Three different treatments were randomly assigned to plots containing agaves within a burn unit: plots were burned with extant fuel, plots were left unburned, and plots were burned with an augmentation of fuel. Agaves were surveyed before the fires, immediately after the fires, and one and two years after the fires. Mortality and survivorship with the fuel load, agave size and the type of clusters in which the agaves grew. Agaves near mesquite and acacia trees or dead, dried agaves experienced higher mortality than agaves growing elsewhere. Agaves in plots with added fine fuels also had higher rates of mortality. One year post-fire, mortality was low in all treatments and recruitment was higher on augmented and burned plots than on unburned plots. Two years post-fire, mortality of small Agave palmeri was associated more strongly with rainfall than with fire treatment, while mortality of larger height classes of agaves exhibited a delayed response to fires.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/291511 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Johnson, Roxane Jeannette |
| Contributors | McPherson, Guy R. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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