Invasive species are generally managed across rangelands to achieve livestock productivity and biodiversity maintenance objectives. The invasive legume Lespedeza cuneata (Dum. Cours.) G. Don. is managed across much of the Great Plains with aerially applied herbicides that target broadleaf forbs and dormant season (late March−early April) fire. It is hypothesized that altering fire timing to the growing season or integrating late-season herbicide into fire management may lead to more successful reduction of L. cuneata without negatively affecting rangeland plant communities. However, most of the literature outlining the effects of L. cuneata and its management is limited to small scale (< 100 m²), highly controlled studies that are not transferrable to large working rangelands. We manipulated eight large (333−766 ha) pastures managed with fire and grazing (i.e., pyric herbivory) to assess whether growing and dormant season fires, herbicide application, or the interactive effect of fire timing and herbicide reduced L. cuneata without negatively affecting broad rangeland plant composition (i.e., functional group cover) from 2019 to 2021. Our study was performed at two scales relevant to rangeland management: the pasture and burn patch scales. None of our treatments (i.e., fire timing, herbicide application, or the interaction of fire timing and herbicide) had a significant effect on L. cuneata canopy cover at either the pasture or patch scale. Our treatments also did not affect forb or shrub cover at the pasture or patch scales. Grass and sedge cover was significantly increased post herbicide at the patch scale, but not at the pasture scale. Grass and sedge cover was unaffected by any other treatment at both scales considered in this study. Our results add to nearly two decades of research, conducted elsewhere, that pyric herbivory alone may be sufficient to manage L. cuneata and promote rangeland biodiversity in the tallgrass prairie.

入侵物种通常在牧场上进行管理，以实现牲畜生产力和生物多样性维护目标。入侵豆科植物Lespedeza cuneata (Dum. Cours.) G. Don。在大平原的大部分地区，通过空中施用除草剂来管理，针对阔叶杂草和休眠季节（三月底至四月初）火灾。据推测，改变生长季节的火灾时间或将晚季除草剂纳入火灾管理可能会更成功地减少L. cuneata，而不会对牧场植物群落产生负面影响。然而，大多数概述L. cuneata影响及其管理的文献仅限于小规模（< 100 m ²），高度受控的研究不能转移到大型工作牧场。我们对八个采用火和放牧（即热食草）管理的大型牧场（333−766 公顷）进行了操作，以评估生长季节和休眠季节火灾、除草剂的施用或火灾时间和除草剂的交互作用是否减少了 L. cuneata，而不会对 L. cuneata 产生负面影响。 2019 年至 2021 年的广泛牧场植物组成（即功能群覆盖）。我们的研究在与牧场管理相关的两个尺度上进行：牧场和烧伤斑块尺度。我们的处理方法（即火灾时机、除草剂施用或火灾时机与除草剂的相互作用）对L. cuneata没有显着影响牧场或斑块规模的树冠覆盖。我们的处理也没有影响牧场或斑块上的杂草或灌木覆盖。除草剂后，斑块范围内的草和莎草覆盖率显着增加，但牧场范围内的草和莎草覆盖率没有显着增加。在本研究中考虑的两个尺度上，草和莎草覆盖物均未受到任何其他处理的影响。我们的研究结果补充了在其他地方进行的近二十年的研究，即仅热食草动物就足以管理L. cuneata并促进高草草原的牧场生物多样性。