TY - JOUR
T1 - Pelletized inoculation of fire mosses in severely burned conifer forests overcomes initial barriers to Bryum argenteum establishment but does not increase cover
AU - Grover, Henry S.
AU - Bowker, Matthew A.
AU - Fulé, Peter Z.
AU - Sieg, Carolyn H.
AU - Antoninka, Anita J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research Program [grant no. USDA-NIFA-10202-MSCFRXXX-19-001 / project accession number. 1007836] from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded to the Northern Arizona University, School of Forestry. Additional funding was provided by Valles Caldera National Preserve, Jemez Springs, New Mexico (Agreement ID: P16AC00911 ); the ARCS scholar award, Phoenix, Arizona ; and the Joint Fire Science Program, Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) award (Grant ID: 18-1-01-55 ). Field technician support and soil sample analysis were provided by the Rocky Mountain Research Station, Flagstaff, AZ. The authors thank Micah Kiesow, Christopher MacDonald, Sheila Sandusky, and Susan Harrelson for providing access and permitting support. Danna Muise and Sedona Spann conducted nutrient analysis. This work would not have been possible without the technicians and volunteers who provided field and lab support including: Cristina Rengifo, Dr. Angela Lafuente, Dustin Kebble, Sam Compton, Julia Stuart, Pablo Ortiz, Maxwell Benning, Kara Gibson, Landon Sawaya, Casey Henson, Efrain Rivera, Thomas Sypkens, Juliana Monteiro, Caio Vissicaro, and Dr. Bo Xiao. Shannon Kay and Dr. Peter Robichaud, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station, provided statistical and technical advice.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research Program [grant no. USDA-NIFA-10202-MSCFRXXX-19-001/ project accession number. 1007836] from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded to the Northern Arizona University, School of Forestry. Additional funding was provided by Valles Caldera National Preserve, Jemez Springs, New Mexico (Agreement ID: P16AC00911); the ARCS scholar award, Phoenix, Arizona; and the Joint Fire Science Program, Graduate Research Innovation (GRIN) award (Grant ID: 18-1-01-55). Field technician support and soil sample analysis were provided by the Rocky Mountain Research Station, Flagstaff, AZ. The authors thank Micah Kiesow, Christopher MacDonald, Sheila Sandusky, and Susan Harrelson for providing access and permitting support. Danna Muise and Sedona Spann conducted nutrient analysis. This work would not have been possible without the technicians and volunteers who provided field and lab support including: Cristina Rengifo, Dr. Angela Lafuente, Dustin Kebble, Sam Compton, Julia Stuart, Pablo Ortiz, Maxwell Benning, Kara Gibson, Landon Sawaya, Casey Henson, Efrain Rivera, Thomas Sypkens, Juliana Monteiro, Caio Vissicaro, and Dr. Bo Xiao. Shannon Kay and Dr. Peter Robichaud, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station, provided statistical and technical advice.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - As wildfires increase in extent and severity, we need new tools to rehabilitate burned landscapes. We tested the effectiveness of adding fire moss tissue, produced in the greenhouse, as a bio-inoculant to severely burned soils in dry mixed conifer forests. We conducted three sequential experiments using knowledge gained from previous experiments to fine-tune fire moss delivery methods. The first two experiments began in July 2017, less than ten days after a wildfire in Arizona, United States. First, we added disaggregated (passed through a 2 mm sieve) cultivated moss tissue to burned soil surfaces, which was immediately collected by ants. In a second experiment, we added two preparations designed to reduce ant collection: moss rolled into pellets using diatomaceous earth and moss ground to a powder. Pelletization increased Bryum argenteum cover (F[3,55] = 12.32, p < 0.001) and the number of distinct moss colonies (F[3,55] = 11.87, p < 0.001) when compared to untreated control plots, although cover remained low (1%). A third experiment took place four months postfire in New Mexico. Sieved moss, pelletized moss, and pelletized moss at a high (5×) application rate were added to a burned forest. The high-rate pelletized treatment increased B. argenteum colony count by 140% compared to controls (F[3,44] = 2.37, p = 0.084), but did not increase cover (F[3,44] = 1.19, p = 0.325). At both sites, an extreme drought (Palmer Drought Severity Index < −4) during the winter of 2017–18 likely reduced success. We recommend further refinement and testing of pelletization in non-drought conditions.
AB - As wildfires increase in extent and severity, we need new tools to rehabilitate burned landscapes. We tested the effectiveness of adding fire moss tissue, produced in the greenhouse, as a bio-inoculant to severely burned soils in dry mixed conifer forests. We conducted three sequential experiments using knowledge gained from previous experiments to fine-tune fire moss delivery methods. The first two experiments began in July 2017, less than ten days after a wildfire in Arizona, United States. First, we added disaggregated (passed through a 2 mm sieve) cultivated moss tissue to burned soil surfaces, which was immediately collected by ants. In a second experiment, we added two preparations designed to reduce ant collection: moss rolled into pellets using diatomaceous earth and moss ground to a powder. Pelletization increased Bryum argenteum cover (F[3,55] = 12.32, p < 0.001) and the number of distinct moss colonies (F[3,55] = 11.87, p < 0.001) when compared to untreated control plots, although cover remained low (1%). A third experiment took place four months postfire in New Mexico. Sieved moss, pelletized moss, and pelletized moss at a high (5×) application rate were added to a burned forest. The high-rate pelletized treatment increased B. argenteum colony count by 140% compared to controls (F[3,44] = 2.37, p = 0.084), but did not increase cover (F[3,44] = 1.19, p = 0.325). At both sites, an extreme drought (Palmer Drought Severity Index < −4) during the winter of 2017–18 likely reduced success. We recommend further refinement and testing of pelletization in non-drought conditions.
KW - Ant collection
KW - Bryophytes
KW - Burned area rehabilitation
KW - Ceratodon purpureus
KW - Funaria hygrometrica
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121692020&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85121692020&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2021.106513
DO - 10.1016/j.ecoleng.2021.106513
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85121692020
SN - 0925-8574
VL - 176
JO - Ecological Engineering
JF - Ecological Engineering
M1 - 106513
ER -