Quercus marilandica and Quercus stellata codominate in the Cross Timbers forests extending from southeastern Kansas through Oklahoma to central Texas. We studied the impact of a March 2003 tornado (F3 on the Fujita scale) and an April 2007 fire on a crosstimbers stand in the Nature Conservancy’s Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, Osage County, Oklahoma. We sampled 102 modules of 10m×10m dimension along 500m north-south oriented transects in the area after prescribed fire in 2007 and recorded mortality and resprouting of Q. marilandica and Q. stellata. We sampled in areas that were both highly impacted and not impacted by the tornado.
Results/Conclusions
Survivorship was higher for Q. stellata after the tornado in 2003 and after the fire in 2007. However, rate of basal sprouting after the fire was higher for Q. marilandica than for Q. stellata. The quantity of tornado-downed wood likely played a role in the mortality of adult trees of both species. We found the combination of fire and tornado differentially influenced the demography of Q. marilandica and Q. stellata, and it is possible that a tradeoff in mortality and resprouting that supports the coexistence of the two species.
