biostudies-literatureUnknown7McGlinn DJ<h4>Background</h4>Patch-burn management approaches attempt to increase overall landscape biodiversity by creating a mosaic of habitats using a patchy application of fire and grazing. We tested two assumptions of the patch-burn approach, namely that: (1) fire and grazing drive spatial patch differentiation in community structure and (2) species composition of patches change through time in response to disturbance.<h4>Methods</h4>We analyzed species cover data on 100 m² square quadrats from 128 sites located on a 1 × 1 km UTM grid in the grassland habitats of the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. A total of 20 of these sites were annually sampled for 12 years. We examined how strongly changes in species richness and species composition correlated with changes in management variables rePeerJe6738https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC6503835biostudies-literatureExamining the assumptions of heterogeneity-based management for promoting plant diversity in a disturbance-prone ecosystem.PMC6503835Palmer MWMcGlinn DJfalseExamining the assumptions of heterogeneity-based management for promoting plant diversity in a disturbance-prone ecosystem.<h4>Background</h4>Patch-burn management approaches attempt to increase overall landscape biodiversity by creating a mosaic of habitats using a patchy application of fire and grazing. We tested two assumptions of the patch-burn approach, namely that: (1) fire and grazing drive spatial patch differentiation in community structure and (2) species composition of patches change through time in response to disturbance.<h4>Methods</h4>We analyzed species cover data on 100 m² square quadrats from 128 sites located on a 1 × 1 km UTM grid in the grassland habitats of the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. A total of 20 of these sites were annually sampled for 12 years. We examined how strongly changes in species richness and species composition correlated with changes in management variables re2019-01-01T00:00:00Z20192025-04-26T19:25:20.643Z2019-06-06T23:28:19ZS-EPMC65038353111091610.7717/peerj.6738