02661nas a2200205   4500008004100000245014300041210006900184300001300253490000800266520197800274653001302252653000902265653001202274653002302286653001302309653002802322100002002350700001902370856006602389       2009                        eng d00aThe effects of fire frequency and grazing on tallgrass prairie productivity and plant composition are mediated through bud bank demography0 aeffects of fire frequency and grazing on tallgrass prairie produ  a411 -4200 v2013 a<p>Periodic fire, grazing, and a variable climate are considered the most important drivers of tallgrass prairie ecosystems, having large impacts on the component species and on ecosystem structure and function. We used long-term experiments at Konza Prairie Biological Station to explore the underlying demographic mechanisms responsible for tallgrass prairie responses to two key ecological drivers: fire and grazing. Our data indicate that belowground bud banks (populations of meristems associated with rhizomes or other perennating organs) mediate tallgrass prairie plant response. Fire and grazing altered rates of belowground bud natality, tiller emergence from the bud bank, and both short-term (fire cycle) and long-term (&gt;15 year) changes in bud bank density. Annual burning increased grass bud banks by 25% and decreased forb bud banks by 125% compared to burning every 4 years. Grazing increased the rate of emergence from the grass bud bank resulting in increased grass stem densities while decreasing grass bud banks compared to ungrazed prairie. By contrast, grazing increased both bud and stem density of forbs in annually burned prairie but grazing had no effect on forb bud or stem density in the 4-year burn frequency treatment. Lastly, the size of the reserve grass bud bank is an excellent predictor of long-term ANPP in tallgrass prairie and also of short-term interannual variation in ANPP associated with fire cycles, supporting our hypothesis that ANPP is strongly regulated by belowground demographic processes. Meristem limitation due to management practices such as different fire frequencies or grazing regimes may constrain tallgrass prairie responses to interannual changes in resource availability. An important consequence is that grasslands with a large bud bank may be the most responsive to future climatic change or other global change phenomena such as nutrient enrichment, and may be most resistant to exotic species invasions.</p>10aBud bank10afire10aGrazing10aKonza Prairie LTER10aMeristem10aVegetative reproduction1 aDalgleish, H.J.1 aHartnett, D.C.  uhttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11258-008-9562-3