Short-Term Fire Effects on Small Mammal Populations and Vegetation of the Northern Chihuahuan Desert
Table 2
Density (#/ha) of shrub and cactus species prior to burning, May 1995 (PRE), one month post burn, July 1995 (POST95), and one year post burn, July 1996 (POST96), on burned (B) and control (C) sites on Fort Bliss Military Reservation, Otero County, New Mexico.
Species
PRE
POST95
POST96
B
C
B
C
B
C
Burn
Time
Atriplex 1
20.4
21.3
2.8
24.1
0.9
18.5
.075
.099
canescens
SE
6.0
8.5
2.0
12.9
0.9
11.0
Flourensia
1000.0
790.7
219.4 A
851.9 B
263.0 A
794.4 B
2
cernua
SE
318.4
241.2
99.1
258.2
107.5
248.8
Larrea
3050.0
2735.2
482.4
2685.2
781.8
2779.6
.001
.032
tridentata
SE
248.8
194.0
130.3
230.4
203.6
269.7
Parthenium
102.8
64.8
26.9
61.1
61.1
55.6
.746
.131
incanum
SE
58.8
51.1
14.8
48.4
32.2
42.9
Prosopis
17.5
25.0
6.5
18.5
2.8
22.2
.148
1.000
glandulosa
SE
5.2
12.3
3.1
8.2
1.4
10.5
Opuntia 3
316.7
169.4
40.2 A
220.9 B
46.7 A
174.6 B
2
leptocaulis
SE
5.9
27.8
17.9
24.8
21.0
20.1
Opuntia
131.5
153.7
39.8
183.3
38.1
145.4
.019
.222
macrocentra
SE
35.6
67.9
10.7
77.9
10.8
54.2
Opuntia 3
388.9
193.5
97.3 A
229.6 A
141.9 A
201.8 A
2
polyacantha
SE
108.6
41.0
32.9
52.2
41.6
38.4
Yucca
40.7
55.6
27.8
52.8
17.3
52.8
.041
.242
elata
SE
16.9
23.0
18.3
21.6
11.1
23.4
1Data rank transformed. Raw means presented. 2Treatment time interaction (). Means followed by same letter within years are not different (). 3May 1995 results used as a covariate for postburn comparisons due to pre-treatment effects (). Covariate adjusted means presented. 4Data square-root transformed. Raw means presented.
