Tallgrass prairie is a disturbance‐dependent ecosystem that has suffered steep declines in the midwestern United States. The necessity of disturbance, typically fire or grazing, presents challenges to managers who must apply them on increasingly small and fragmented parcels. The goal of this study was to compare effects of management using cattle grazing or fire on vegetation and soil characteristics to aid managers in making decisions regarding the kind of disturbance to apply. We selected 73 sites, of which 27 were managed solely by cattle grazing and 46 solely by fire, for at least 11 yr leading up to the study. We stratified the sites by prairie type (dry, mesic, and wet) and sampled frequency of plant species on randomly placed transects, supplemented with botanist‐directed walks, and collected and composited five soil cores on a randomly selected transect within each prairie type at each site. We calculated rarefied richness and Shannon evenness from the transect data and mean coefficient of conservatism (CofC) from the total list of species. Soil samples were analyzed for texture, bulk density, total N and C, and potential net N nitrification and mineralization. A nonmetric multidimensional scaling analysis of the plant community data revealed differences in species associated with mesic and wet prairies, but no separation by management type. Similarly, none of the vegetation variables we calculated varied by management type, as determined by mixed‐effects models, but soil bulk density was 17.5% higher and total N was 22% higher on grazed sites than burned sites. Sites burned more recently had higher species richness and mean CofC, but fire was not associated with any soil variables. Sites grazed more recently had higher bulk density, total N and C, and faster N cycling rates. Overall, 28% of plant species were found exclusively in one management type or the other, but these species did not vary in mean CofC. We conclude that, at the levels of burning and grazing intensity we studied, both management approaches produce similar C storage and vegetation responses. To maintain maximum diversity across the landscape, however, both approaches are necessary.

中文翻译：

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通过放牧或火烧管理高草残草地：对植物群落和土壤特性的影响

Tallgrass草原是一种依赖干扰的生态系统，在美国中西部遭受了急剧下降。干扰（通常是火灾或掠食）的必要性给管理人员带来了挑战，他们必须将其应用于越来越小的和零散的包裹上。这项研究的目的是比较使用放牧或生火对植被和土壤特征的管理效果，以帮助管理人员就应施加的干扰类型做出决策。我们选择了73个地点，其中至少27年仅由放牧管理，46个仅由放牧管理，持续了至少11年。我们根据草原类型（干，中，湿）对地点进行分层，并在随机放置的样带上对植物物种进行采样，并辅以植物学家指导的步行，并在每个地点的每个草原类型内的随机选择的样地上收集并复合五个土壤核心。我们根据样带数据计算了稀有度和香农均匀度，并根据物种总数计算了平均保守性系数（CofC）。分析土壤样品的质地，容重，总氮和碳以及潜在的净氮硝化作用和矿化作用。对植物群落数据的非度量多维尺度分析表明，与大草原和湿草原相关的物种存在差异，但没有按管理类型进行分离。同样，通过混合效应模型确定，我们计算出的植被变量均未因管理类型而变化，但放牧地点的土壤容重比燃烧地点高17.5％，总氮高22％。最近燃烧的地点具有较高的物种丰富度和平均CofC，但火灾与任何土壤变量均无关。最近放牧的站点具有更高的容重，总氮和碳，以及更快的氮循环速率。总体而言，发现28％的植物物种仅属于一种管理类型或另一种管理类型，但这些物种的平均CofC不变。我们得出的结论是，在我们研究的燃烧和放牧强度水平上，两种管理方法均产生相似的碳储存和植被响应。但是，为了在整个景观中保持最大的多样性，两种方法都是必要的。但是这些物种的平均CofC没有变化。我们得出的结论是，在我们研究的燃烧和放牧强度水平上，两种管理方法均产生相似的碳储存和植被响应。但是，为了在整个景观中保持最大的多样性，两种方法都是必要的。但是这些物种的平均CofC没有变化。我们得出的结论是，在我们研究的燃烧和放牧强度水平上，两种管理方法均产生相似的碳储存和植被响应。但是，为了在整个景观中保持最大的多样性，两种方法都是必要的。