Title:

Forage quality responses to prescribed fire in the northwestern Great Plains

Author(s):

Ott, Jacqueline P.; Ocheltree, Troy W.; Porensky, Lauren M.; Scasta, J. Derek; Symstad, Amy J.

Publication Year:

2026

How to Cite:

These data were collected using funding from the U.S. Government and can be used without additional permissions or fees. If you use these data in a publication, presentation, or other research product please use the following citation:

Ott, Jacqueline P.; Ocheltree, Troy W.; Porensky, Lauren M.; Scasta, J. Derek; Symstad, Amy J. 2026. Forage quality responses to prescribed fire in the northwestern Great Plains. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2026-0007

Abstract:

These data document forage quality at 36 sites in the Northwestern Great Plains of North America. Twenty northern mixed-grass prairie sites were located on Buffalo Gap National Grassland in southwestern South Dakota (hereafter Northern Mixed-grass Prairie, or NMP) and the remaining sixteen sites were located in sagebrush-grasslands of the Thunder Basin region of northeastern Wyoming (hereafter Sagebrush-Grassland Ecotone, or SGE). The 36 sites had not experienced recent major disturbances, such as prairie dogs, tillage, or fire (15+ years since last known fire). At each site, six 2 × 4 meter (m) plots separated by at least 5 m were established. Plots were oriented with the 4 m edge running in the predominant wind direction (northeast-southwest in SGE and east-west or northwest-southeast in NMP). All plots were unfenced and open to grazing herbivores, including livestock and wildlife. The timing, intensity, and duration of use by livestock varied widely across sites, consistent with regional livestock management regimes. Treatments were randomly assigned to the six plots at each site. One plot was an unmanipulated control plot while the remaining plots received various fire and/or drought treatments. Treatments in these data are combinations of fire seasonality (fall, spring), year of fire (2018, 2019, 2021), and, for SGE sites only, fuel load (ambient, 50% addition). To ascertain how treatments affected forage quality, we clipped all aboveground herbaceous biomass rooted in one 20 x 50 centimeter (cm) quadrat, excluding cactus and shrubs, twice during growing seasons following burn treatments. We sampled twice per year (spring and summer) to capture within-season shifts in forage quality and, in some locations, for two growing seasons after a burn treatment to ascertain the duration of effects. This data publication provides results of laboratory analyses (near infrared reflectance spectroscopy, NIRS) for six metrics of forage quality: neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and lignin, both of which are negatively correlated with intake and digestibility; fat, an indicator of high energy sources in feed; total digestible nutrients (TDN), an indicator of total energy; crude protein (CP), which is related to nitrogen content and important for protein requirements of ruminant gut microbes as well as direct use by the animal; and ash, an indicator of mineral content.

Keywords:

biota; Fire; Prescribed fire; Buffalo Gap; Crude protein; digestibility; fuel loading; pyric herbivory; Thunder Basin; Joint Fire Science Program; JFSP; South Dakota; Wyoming; Northwestern Great Plains of North America; Buffalo Gap National Grasslands; Northern Mixed-grass Prairie; Thunder Basin region

Related publications:

• Porensky, Lauren M.; Scasta, J. Derek; Ocheltree, Troy W.; Symstad, Amy J.; Estep, Catherine E.; Ott, Jacqueline P. 2026. Dormant-season prescribed fires can enhance forage quality for two growing seasons in the northwestern Great Plains. Rangeland Ecology & Management. 108: 23-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2026.05.003 https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/80828

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