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The Benefits of Fire at Niobrara Valley Preserve

Middle Valley at Niobrara Valley Preserve post-fire June 2007
Middle Creek at Niobrara Valley Preserve after prescribed fire,
with regrowth of native vegetation; most prominent are prairie
sandreed and milkweeds. © John Ortmann/TNC
 

Native plant species are returning to The Nature Conservancy’s Niobrara Valley Preserve with the help of a prescribed fire last spring. 500 acres were burned to aid restoration of riparian grasslands into tallgrass/bur oak savanna. Before and after pictures illustrate why the Nebraska chapter is making prescribed fire a priority.

Fire is an essential force that has shaped ecosystems and life forms around the globe. But in many ecosystems today, the role of fire is severely out of balance, threatening to devastate both human and natural communities. In Nebraska, prescribed fire can prevent brush and trees from overtaking the prairie, prevent build-up of dead vegetation that encourages weeds and retards new growth, and improve habitat for prairie birds, mammals and butterflies.

The prescribed fire at Niobrara Valley Preserve was done in April 2007, by a crew of seven. John Ortmann, the director of science and stewardship at Niobara Valley, talked about why prescribed fire is an important tool for maintaining natural grasslands in Nebraska.

Untreated area at Niobrara Valley Preserve showing cedars crowding native vegetation

What was burned away?
Weedy exotics (annual bromegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, smooth bromegrass), eastern red cedar, fire-intolerant hardwoods (cottonwood, green ash, American elm, hackberry, prickly ash)

What is coming back?
Many native grass species, (western wheatgrass, needleandthread, little bluestem, big bluestem, prairie sandreed, sideoats grama, Indiangrass, switchgrass, sand dropseed); many forbs, including spiderwort, penstemmons, milkweeds, puccoons; prairie shrubs (plum, willow, false indigo, currents, grape). After only two months, the site looked like a salad bowl of new plants.

area of Niobrara Valley Preserve that was burned in spring, showing tallgrass prairie species return

What is the importance of this fire?
It aids in the restoration of these riparian grasslands to a tallgrass/bur oak savanna state. Fire has a number of direct and indirect positive effects on fire-loving native vegetation, while suppressing fire-intolerant exotic herbs, bromes and grasses. For example, it culls cedar trees, which otherwise would eventually totally occupy the area, and kills fire-intolerant hardwoods, which allows for the survival and expansion of fire-tolerant bur oak.

Find out more about prescribed fire at The Nature Conservancy’s Global Fire Initiative site.

Photo credits (middle and bottom): Unburned area at Niobrara Valley Preserve showing cedars crowding native vegetation. © John Ortmann/TNC; Burned aea at Niobrara Valley Preserve showing tallgrass prairie species returning. © John Ortmann/TNC