The effect of prescribed burning for conservation management of plant communities is controversial for moorlands growing on peat. These ecosystems provide many services that may be damaged by fire, hence it is important to fully assess its impact on all aspects of ecosystem structure and function experimentally over relatively long time‐scales. This paper describes change in community composition, major plant species, and plant functional types on moorland on peat in upland Britain over 60 years subject to 3 burning treatments after an initial burn in 1954/1955: no further burn and burning at 10‐ and 20‐year intervals (all ± sheep grazing). Data were analysed using multivariate and univariate methods. Vegetation composition and individual species abundance reflected the degree of disturbance. The least disturbed was dominated by Calluna vulgaris and pleurocarpous mosses, whereas the most disturbed treatment (burned every 10 years) had greater Eriophorum vaginatum, Sphagnum spp., acrocarpous mosses, liverworts, and lichens. The 20‐year treatment was intermediate in response disturbance. Repeated burning increased species abundance‐weighted Ellenberg values for moisture, reaction, light through time, and fertility; the exception was the 10‐year rotation for fertility. These confirm that prescribed burning is not deleterious to peat‐forming species (Eriophorum spp. and Sphagnum spp.), indeed these species were found in greater abundance in frequently burned treatments. It also confirms that a no‐burn policy will lead to increasing dominance of C. vulgaris, a flammable, fire‐adapted shrub, which increases summer wildfire risk. These results inform conservation management policy for moorland vegetation growing on peat; for this site, a 20‐year prescribed burning rotation is recommended.

中文翻译：

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轮作规定的焚烧和放牧对沼泽地植物群落的影响：来自 60 年干预实验的结果

对于生长在泥炭上的沼泽地，规定燃烧对植物群落保护管理的影响是有争议的。这些生态系统提供了许多可能被火灾破坏的服务，因此在相对较长的时间尺度上通过实验全面评估其对生态系统结构和功能的各个方面的影响非常重要。本文描述了在 1954/1955 年初次燃烧后经过 3 次燃烧处理后 60 年间英国高地泥炭沼地上的群落组成、主要植物物种和植物功能类型的变化：10 和 20 ‐年间隔（所有 ± 绵羊放牧）。使用多变量和单变量方法分析数据。植被组成和个体物种丰度反映了干扰程度。干扰最少的是 Calluna vulgaris 和胸膜苔藓，而干扰最严重的处理（每 10 年烧一次）有较大的 Eriophorum vaginatum、Sphagnum spp.、顶果苔藓、地衣和地衣。20 年的治疗在反应障碍方面处于中等水平。重复燃烧增加了物种丰度加权的 Ellenberg 水分、反应、光随时间变化和肥力值；唯一的例外是生育率的 10 年轮换。这些证实了规定的燃烧对泥炭形成物种（Eriophorum spp. 和 Sphagnum spp.）无害，事实上，在经常燃烧的处理中发现这些物种的数量更多。它还证实，不燃烧政策将导致 C. vulgaris（一种易燃、适应火灾的灌木）的优势增加，从而增加夏季野火风险。这些结果为在泥炭上生长的沼地植被提供保护管理政策；对于该场地，建议进行 20 年的规定燃烧轮换。