EFFECTS OF MANAGEMENT FOLLOWING DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES TO RESTORE NATIVE EARLY SUCCESSIONAL PLANT COMMUNITIES

Early successional plant communities are being restored across the eastern USA in response to declines in native early successional plant communities and associated wildlife. Previous research has indicated that early successional communities can be restored via seedbank response and that planting native grasses and forbs is not necessary for many wildlife management objectives. I evaluated effects of burning and mowing following restoration of native plant communities via 1) planting native grasses and forbs and 2) seedbank response without planting across 11 replicated sites in Tennessee and Alabama, 2019-20. I compared vegetation composition and structure, openness at ground level, forage availability, and nutritional carrying capacity (NCC) in 2019 and 2020 following 4 treatments (Seedbank burned (SB), Seedbank mowed (SM), Planted burned (PB), Planted mowed (PM)), and tall fescue Control (CL)). The combination of planting and mowing increased grass coverage. Forb coverage declined in all treatments from 2018 to 2020 except SB, where it increased. Visual obstruction above 25 cm was greater in all treatments than CL, which enhanced nesting cover for wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) and bedding cover for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Openness at ground level, which is important for northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and wild turkey broods, was 30% greater in SB than PM, which provided the least openness among treatments. Coverage of bobwhite food and deer forage plant species was greatest in SB. Selected available deer forage (kg/ha) was greater in all treatments compared to CL, and NCC (deer days/ha) was greatest in SB. Spring-, summer-, and fall-flowering forbs, which are a focus of conservation programs designed to enhance habitat for pollinators, increased most in SB. My results provide insight into how disturbance management techniques may alter plant community composition and structure soon after restoration. I recommend managers consider using seedbank response without planting when restoring early successional plant communities previously dominated by nonnative grasses and to use prescribed fire instead of mowing to maintain these plant communities. Furthermore, my results highlight how planting native grasses and forbs is not necessary to restore native early successional plant communities on many sites in the eastern United States.