Cape Cod--Plots Mowed in the Growing Season

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The columns of photos below depict two different, 0.1-acre plots from the Lombard-Paradise Research Site. The column on the left shows a "Mow Summer 1" plot--a plot that is mowed every growing season. The column on the right shows a "Mow Summer 4" plot--a plot that is mowed every fourth growing season.

As you scroll down the columns, the pictures become progressively more recent; the oldest photos are at the top of the page, and the newest photos are at the bottom. "Mowing" here specifically refers to cutting shrub understories with hand-held brushcutters. The estimated cost of this treatment is $225 per acre.

Mow Summer 1 (mowed every summer)

date

Mow Summer 4 (mowed every 4th summer)

1986
Mow Summer 1 plot in June 1986, pre-treatment .   Mow Summer 4 plot in June 1986, pre-treatment .

1987
Mow Summer 1 plot in July 1987, after one mow.   Mow Summer 4 plot in July 1987, after one mow.

1990
Mow Summer 1 plot on July 20, 1990, after four mows.   Mow Summer 4 plot on July 20, 1990, after one mow.
1991
Mow Summer 1 plot in June 1991, after five mows.   Mow Summer 4 plot in June 1991, after two mows.

1997
Mow Summer 1 plot in August 1997, after tweleve mows.   Mow Summer 4 plot in August 1997, after three mows.
2002
Mow Summer 1 plot in July 2002, after sixteen mows.   Mow Summer 4 plot in July 2002, after four mows.

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The above photo series illustrates the difference in fuel loads resulting from mowing every summer verses burning every fourth summer. For a more quantitative perspective, see below for a graph of the weight of the litter load for the two plots over time.

The weight of the total litter load (including 1, 10, and 100hr woody fuels, as well as 1-hr non-woody fuels) is greater in the Mow Summer 4 (MS4) plot than in the Mow Summer 1 (MS1) plot at the last date on which they were both sampled, in 2002. In fact, the fuel load of the Mow Summer 4 plot does not differ from that of the control plots (an average of 5 controls for each year) at the last date they were all sampled, in 1998.

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