Effects of managed fire on a swale grassland in the Chihuahuan Desert

On the Ground • Fire is considered a critical process for limiting shrub encroachment and maintaining grassland structure and functions. • Fire can be detrimental to grasses in upland settings of arid desert grasslands, but no studies have been performed in more productive swale grasslands. • Monitoring of a prescribed fire treatment in a swale grassland in southern New Mexico indicated that perennial grasses had not recovered after 5 years, even with above-average rainfall. Furthermore, indicators of erosion susceptibility increased, and shrubs resprouted rapidly.