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Prescribed burning for control of yellow starthistle (Centaurea solstitialis) and enhanced native plant diversity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Joseph M. DiTomaso ,
Guy B. Kyser  and
Marla S. Hastings
Guy B. Kyser
Affiliation:
Weed Science Program, Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California, Davis, CA 95616
Marla S. Hastings
Affiliation:
State of California Department of Parks and Recreation, Sonoma, CA 95476
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Extract

Two separate open grassland areas within Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, Sonoma County, CA, were burned for three consecutive years (1993–1995 [Site A] and 1995–1997 [Site B]) for control of yellow starthistle. Burns were conducted in late June to early July following seed dispersal and senescence of desirable grasses and forbs but prior to viable seed production in yellow starthistle. After the first year burn, there was no significant reduction in yellow starthistle cover the following spring and summer. Despite the lack of control, the first year burn reduced the yellow starthistle soil seedbank by 74% and the number of seedlings the following spring by 83%. However, total plant diversity and species richness increased dramatically in the burned areas. This was due primarily to an increase in the number of native broadleaf species. A second burn the next summer (1995–1997 site) reduced seedbank, seedling density, and summer vegetative cover the following year by 94, 92, and 85%, respectively, while maintaining significantly higher native plant cover and richness. A third consecutive summer burn decreased yellow starthistle seedbank and seedling density by 96, 98, and 85%, respectively, in the 1995–1997 burn site. Three consecutive years of burning in the 1993–1995 site reduced yellow starthistle seedbank and seedling density by over 99% and summer vegetative cover by 91%. These results indicate that prescribed burning can be an effective tool for the management of yellow starthistle and can have a long-term benefit on native broadleaf diversity and richness.

Keywords

Yellow starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis L. CENSO.Plant diversity, rangeland, grassland, fire, CENSO
Type
Weed Management
Information
Weed Science , Volume 47 , Issue 2 , April 1999 , pp. 233 - 242
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 by the Weed Science Society of America 

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