Landowner perceptions of woody plants and prescribed fire in the Southern Plains, USA

Authors: STROMAN, DIANE - Collin County Community College; KREUTER, URS - Texas A&M University; Wonkka, Carissa

Submitted to: PLOS ONE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/27/2020
Publication Date: 9/8/2020
Citation: Stroman, D.A., Kreuter, U.P., Wonkka, C.L. 2020. Landowner perceptions of woody plants and prescribed fire in the Southern Plains, USA. PLoS ONE. 15(9):e0238688. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238688.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238688

Interpretive Summary: Rangelands face a number of threats including land use change, changing climate and encroachment of trees and shrubs. In the Southern Plains of the United States, woody plant encroachment threatens traditional agricultural grazing economies in addition to many wildlife species. Studies have examined the physical drivers of conversion from grassland to woodland but social drivers may be equally important to understanding the causes of woody plant encroachment. In this paper, we report the results of a survey of landowners in the Southern Plains of Texas and Oklahoma in which we asked participants to estimate the current amount of woody plant cover on their land, their preferred amount of woody plant cover, and about their perspectives regarding the use of controlled burning for managing woody plants. Controlled burning is ecologically and economically one of the most effective tools for maintaining grasslands but many landowners do not use this tool due to lack of knowledge, lack of resources, and concerns over safety and legal liability. We found that while most of our respondents did express a desire for less woody plant cover on their land, woody plant preference did not affect landowner’s use of controlled burning. However, belonging to a cooperative of burners and owning larger properties were correlated with increased use of controlled burning. Woody plant cover preference was significantly influenced by landownership motivations, with hunters and other recreational motivated landowners preferring more trees and ranchers preferring fewer. This is important because throughout most of our study area, there has been a steady shift from agricultural production to amenity or recreational landownership, a trend that may undermine efforts to restore or maintain open grasslands. Providing support for burning cooperatives could increasing controlled burning by private landowners, as these cooperatives have successfully promoted controlled burning in areas where they occur.

Technical Abstract: Grassland environments face a number of threats including land use change, changing climate and encroachment of woody plants. In the Southern Plains of the United States, woody plant encroachment threatens traditional agricultural grazing economies in addition to grassland dependent wildlife species. Numerous studies have examined the physical drivers of conversion from grassland to woodland but social drivers may be equally important to understanding the causes of and prescriptions for environmental degradation. In this paper, we report the results of a survey of landowners in the Southern Plains of Texas and Oklahoma in which we asked participants to estimate the current amount of woody plant cover on their land, their preferred amount of woody plant cover and about their perspectives regarding the use of prescribed fire for managing woody plants. Prescribed fire is ecologically and economically one of the most effective tools for maintaining grasslands but many landowners do not use this tool due to lack of knowledge, lack of resources and concerns over safety and legal liability. We found that while most of our respondents did express a desire for less woody plant cover on their land, woody plant preference did not affect landowner’s use of prescribed fire. However, belonging to a prescribed burn association and owning larger properties were correlated with increased use of prescribed fire. Woody plant cover preference was significantly influenced by landownership motivations, with hunters and other recreational motivated landowners preferring more trees and ranchers preferring fewer. This is important because throughout most of our study area, there has been a steady shift from agricultural production to amenity or recreational landownership, a trend that may undermine efforts to restore or maintain open grasslands. Providing support for prescribed burn associations could increasing prescribed fire use by private landowners, as prescribed burn associations have successfully promoted prescribed fire use in areas where they occur.