The European far north is an improbable location for a large prehistoric hunter-gatherer cemetery. Tainiaro, 80km south of the Arctic Circle, was first excavated four decades ago but the unpublished findings and their potential significance have evaded wider recognition. Despite the absence of skeletal evidence, dozens of fifth-millennium BC pits have been tentatively interpreted as burials. Here, the authors present the first analytical and comparative overview of the site. Many of the pits are consistent in form with those used for inhumation at contemporaneous sites suggesting that Tainiaro is one of the largest Stone Age cemeteries in northern Europe and raising questions about the cultural and subsistence practices of prehistoric societies in the subarctic.

Largeseed dodder is the most troublesome weed in alfalfa fields in the high desert of Southern California. Preemergence treatment with trifluralin controls dodder early in the season, but, as the season progresses, control declines. A method was needed to control attached dodder plants that escaped preemergence treatment. Flail mowing was compared to burning with a handheld propane-fueled weed burner. These methods were equally effective for controlling attached dodder, but flail mowing was more economical, and less injurious to alfalfa yield and stand density. Burning dodder patches at the end of the season reduced dodder seed viability by an average of 99%. Thus, we propose the use of a three tiered integrated approach consisting of PRE herbicide treatment followed by flail mowing in mid-season to control escaped dodder and burning at the end of the season to reduce dodder seed.

Perennial pepperweed is invasive throughout California. It thrives in a wide range of environments and is a common weed in floodplains, pastures, wetlands, and roadsides. In disturbed areas, perennial pepperweed rapidly forms monotypic stands with a thick litter layer. These infestations not only out-compete other vegetation, but prevent re-establishment of desirable species even after perennial pepperweed control. This experiment examined integrated management strategies with the goal of maximizing perennial pepperweed control and establishment of desirable native vegetation. The experiment was conducted at two sites in Lassen County, CA. Both sites were heavily infested with perennial pepperweed and lacked competing vegetation. The experimental design was a split-split-randomized block with four replications. Site preparation treatments included winter burning, summer and fall mowing, winter grazing, and fall disking. These treatments were designed to remove thatch to facilitate herbicide application and reseeding of desirable perennial grasses. Herbicide treatments included chlorsulfuron, 2,4-D, or glyphosate applied at the flower bud stage. Revegetation treatments included no seeding and no-till seeding of native perennial grasses. Most site preparation plus herbicide combinations reduced perennial pepperweed cover > 85% compared to the untreated control, although treatment efficacy was variable between sites and years. Burning, grazing, mowing, or disking in combination with herbicide treatment and no-till seeding was necessary for successful native perennial grass establishment. Burning or mowing with yearly 2,4-D applications for 3 yr gave the best combination of perennial pepperweed control and native grass establishment. Chlorsulfuron caused chlorosis and stunting to western wheatgrass, basin wildrye, and beardless wildrye at both sites when applied the spring before seeding. No treatment offered complete weed control, suggesting follow-up spot herbicide applications are needed for long-term perennial pepperweed suppression. These results provide several successful integrated strategies for control of perennial pepperweed and revegetation to a desired native perennial grass community.

Research was conducted to evaluate the residual effect of burning and mechanical removal of sugarcane crop residue on weed control and sugarcane growth and yield. In one study, crop residue was removed in December or January within 3 wk after sugarcane harvest. Mechanical removal of residue from the row top and placement in the row middle using a Sunco Trash Tiger® was compared with burning and a no removal control. Superimposed on each residue removal treatment was tillage of row sides and middles in March and in May and a no-tillage program. Tillage efficiency in March when sugarcane was emerging from the winter dormant period was not negatively affected when residue was removed mechanically. Crop residue on the soil surface did not completely suppress winter weed emergence and growth. Based on sugarcane and sugar yield averaged across locations and tillage programs, mechanical removal of residue was as effective as burning. Sugar yield was reduced 7.9% when residue was not removed from the row top compared with burning or mechanical removal. In another study, crop residue of sugarcane harvested in early December was burned or removed mechanically from the row top 4 d after harvest and also mechanically in January, February, or March. Crop residue ground cover of 79% in March on the row top where residue was not removed provided some suppression of winter weeds. Sugarcane shoot population in April was reduced 16.1% when residue removal was delayed until March compared with December. Averaged across tillage and no-tillage treatments in March, sugarcane yield did not differ when residue was removed by burning in December compared with mechanical removal in December or January. Delaying mechanical removal of residue until February or March compared with residue removal in December decreased sugar yield an average of 13.1%.

White sweetclover is invading the Alaska glacial river floodplains and roadsides adjacent to natural areas, and control methods are needed. Chlorsulfuron, 2,4-DB, clopyralid, triclopyr, and 2,4-D controlled white sweetclover seedlings below recommended rates in the greenhouse. Biomass of established plants in the field was reduced by chlorsulfuron at recommended (17.6 g ai/ha), 1/2, and 1/4 rates and was reduced by triclopyr and 2,4-D at recommended rates (1,260 and 1,600 g ai/ha). Herbicides were more effective at reducing white sweetclover viable seed production in 2007 than in 2006. Only chlorsulfuron at 17.6 g ai/ha (recommended rate) eliminated seed production in both years. Flaming killed first-year plants, but some second-year plants resprouted and produced viable seed. Cutting at the 2.5 or 10 cm height did not control first-year plants because of regrowth, and second-year plant density and seed production was reduced by cutting at 2.5 cm but not by cutting at 10 cm.

Curtis Prairie is an 80-yr-old restored prairie that, despite its diverse vegetation and dense cover, was invaded by Phalaris arundinacea (reed canarygrass) during the 1980s. Our search for a method to eradicate Phalaris involved field tests of a grass-specific herbicide (sethoxydim as Vantage®). To reduce Phalaris growth and favor native vegetation, we used an adaptive approach that began in 2005 by testing sethoxydim application with and without adding a seed mix of 32 native plants. Sethoxydim reduced flowering but not cover of Phalaris; we therefore reapplied sethoxydim to all the 2005 plots in 2006 and again in 2007. We began a second experiment in 2006 that combined late-May burning followed by late-June sethoxydim application. This combination reduced Phalaris cover the most of all treatments. In a third experiment in 2007 we repeated the late-May burn + late-June sethoxydim treatment but did not find a reduction in Phalaris cover. We attribute differences in burning + herbicide effects to year effects. Because the Phalaris canopy remained dense even where we applied sethoxydim for 3 yr (first experiment, 2005), we were not surprised that our 2005 seeding of 32 native forbs and graminoids (but not grasses) barely increased native species presence. Six years after seeding, however, we found 12 of the seeded species along with 21 unseeded natives. The adaptive approach of designing new experiments based on prior results led to a promising approach in 2006 (burning before applying sethoxydim to the resprouting Phalaris). Repeating that combination in 2007 indicated a year effect and that no single approach would eradicate this clonal grass.

Extensive areas in the upper Midwest have been invaded by spotted knapweed, and effective management strategies are required to reestablish native plant communities. We examined effects of mowing, mowing plus clopyralid, or mowing plus glyphosate in factorial combination with hand pulling and burning on knapweed abundances on a knapweed-infested site in western Michigan. We applied mowing and herbicide treatments in summer 2008, and seeded all plots with native grasses and forbs in spring 2009. We conducted the knapweed pulling treatment from 2009 to 2012 in July. The prescribed burn was conducted in April 2012. By 2012, hand pulling reduced adult knapweed densities to 0.57 ± 0.12 m−2 (0.053 ± 0.011 ft−2) (mean ± SE), which was 5.8% of nonpulled treatments, juvenile densities to 0.29 ± 0.07 m−2 (2.1% of nonpulled treatments), and seedling densities to 0.07 ± 0.06 m−2 (2.6% of nonpulled treatments). After 3 yr, hand pulling reduced seed bank densities to 68 ± 26 m−2 as compared to 524 ± 254 m−2 in nonpulled treatments and 369 ± 66 m−2 in adjacent untreated areas of the study site. Without hand pulling, effects of mowing or mowing plus glyphosate were short-lived and allowed knapweed to rapidly resurge. In comparison, although a single mowing plus clopyralid treatment maintained significantly reduced densities of knapweed for 4 yr, by 2012 knapweed biomass in the nonpulled clopyralid treatment was approximately 60% of that in the other nonpulled treatments. Burning had minimal impacts on knapweed densities regardless of treatment combination, probably as a result of low fire intensity. Results demonstrated that persistent hand pulling used as a follow-up to single mowing or mowing plus herbicide treatments can be an effective practice for treating isolated spotted knapweed infestations or for removing small numbers of knapweed that survive herbicide applications.

Management practices and cropping systems that serve as integrated weed management practices, and at the same time can contribute to improved soil quality, will be important for the sustainability of agricultural production systems. The objective of this study was to assess weed species population density under contrasting tillage (conventional tillage [CT] and no tillage [NT]), residue burning (burn and no burn), and residue level (low and high) treatments after 5 and 6 yr of consistent management in a wheat–soybean double-crop production system. A field experiment was conducted from fall 2001 to fall 2007 in the Mississippi River Delta region of eastern Arkansas on a Calloway silt–loam. Weed assessments were conducted twice during the soybean growing season, before (early season) and after herbicide application (late season) in 2006 and 2007. Total weed density was greater under CT (513 plants m−2) than under NT (340 plants m−2) early in the growing season in 2006, but was greater under NT than CT late in the season in 2007, suggesting that the effectiveness of glyphosate on total weeds differs between CT and NT. Averaged across residue levels, grass species density was greatest in the NT–burn (68 to 167 plants m−2) combination and lowest in the NT–no-burn (41 to 63 plants m−2) early in the growing season in both years. Broadleaf density was greater early (200 to 349 plants m−2) than late (18 to 20 plants m−2) in the growing season under both CT and NT in 2006, but in 2007 broadleaf density did not differ by tillage treatment between seasons. Perennial weed density was greater in the burn (99 plants m−2) than in the no-burn (59 plants m−2) treatment in 2006. No tillage, no burning, and a high residue level appeared to contribute to the suppression of most weed species without reducing herbicide efficiency.

Population growth near protected areas threatens the capacity of such areas for biodiversity conservation. Protected areas may even encourage growth by providing economic benefits that attract migrants. Consequently, understanding the relationships between human demographics and biodiversity is important for conservation. We studied a community-governed Wildlife Management Area bordering the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania, set up to benefit local people and the subsistence rural economy. Annual population growth in this area is 5%. We used a combination of ecological and socio-economic surveys to determine the causes of this growth and its effect on wildlife in the Wildlife Management Area. One-third of local people interviewed were immigrants to the area. Population growth appeared to be unrelated to the protected area; instead an increasing proportion of immigrants cited readily available land as their reason for moving. Pastoralism was associated with fewer signs of large grazing mammals and elephants Loxodonta africana and agriculture was associated with fewer signs of elephant and buffalo Syncerus caffer but more signs of other ungulates. Few residents were aware of the Wildlife Management Area and few received any benefits from wildlife and therefore had little reason to conserve it. This situation is attributable to poor management of the Wildlife Management Area. Detrimental effects of human activity could spread to the Selous Game Reserve if population growth continues. However, natural resources could benefit residents if properly managed. Interactions between human demographics and protected areas are complex and may be best managed on a case-by-case basis.

The multifunctional agronomic, ecological, economic and social uses of grass-based agricultural systems in peri-urban Marion County, Iowa, were the subject of investigation from 2003 to 2005. Following a sociocultural analysis that identified diverse motivations of cow–calf operators, an on-farm, agroecological experiment was established with a member of the study group. The objective of the experiment was to investigate the feasibility of establishing a multifunctional prairie pasture in response to the operator's interest in certified organic, warm-season plant species paddocks. At the field level, the implementation of native grasses and legumes into fallow pasture without the use of herbicides under flash grazing, mowing and unmanaged control treatments showed differences in species establishment and pasture composition. After three growing seasons, native species were evident in all treatments, with no significant differences between grazing and mowing in total native species establishment. There was a trend toward greater native legume establishment in the control over the managed treatments. Thus, total species abundance was greatest in control plots, suggesting this treatment for maximum prairie pasture establishment without herbicides. Concurrence was observed between motivations expressed by cow–calf operators in the sociocultural study (i.e. biodiversity preservation and sustainable management of natural resources) and outcomes from the prairie pasture experimental system. Support for grass-based systems from local institutions at the community level is necessary for the expansion of prairie pastures in Iowa and throughout the tallgrass prairie region.

In 1933/34 eight coppice plots were established in Brachystegia-Julbemardia (miombo) woodland at Ndola in the Copperbelt area of Zambia by the Forestry Department. These plots have been maintained under fire protection, annual early or late dry season burning since 1934/35. Before establishment stems over 20.3 cm girth at breast height were enumerated. Three of the eight plots (one fire protected and two annually early burnt) were enumerated in 1982, 48–49 years after establishment. In addition, a coppice plot at Chitwi, 16 km southwest of the Ndola plots, cleared in 1972 and left to regenerate naturally was enumerated in May 1982 and August 1986 to assess woody plant growth.

The density of stems over 20.0 cm girth in the 13-year-old coppice at Chitwi was 2.5 times that in an adjacent shelterbelt woodland. The stem density in the fire protected plot at Ndola in 1982 was 86% of the pre-felling density while in one of the early burnt plots it was 95% of the pre-felling density. The protected plot had the lowest species diversity after 49 years, largely because of the loss of 11 understorey species that were present before felling.

There were no significant differences in stem mean girth at breast height (gbh) of canopy species in the Ndola plots under fire protection and early burning regimes. Mean annual gbh increments of abundant species were estimated at 1.17–2.21 cm yr−1 and 0.59–1.42 cm yr−1 during 0–9 and 0–49 year age-periods, respectively. Estimated mean annual basal area increments for stems over 30 cm gbh were 0.35 m2 ha−1 for the 13-year-old coppice and 0.24–0.27 m2 ha−1 for the 49-year-old coppice. These results indicate a decrease in both gbh and basal area increment with increasing age of miombo coppice

Air and soil temperatures were measured during dry season heading fires in three different physiognomic forms of native vegetation common in Central Brazil: cerrado sensu stricto (dense scrub of shrubs and trees), campo cerrado (open scrub), and campo sujo (open grassland with scattered shrubs). The vegetation was protected from fire for 15 y in some areas, had been burned once every two years, and once each year in other areas. The temperatures were measured with type-k thermocouples and recorded at intervals of 22.5 sees. Air temperature measurements were taken at 1, 60 and 160 cm. Maximum air temperatures ranged from 85°C to 840°C, and the duration above 60°C varied from 20 to 270 seconds. In the soil, negligible temperature increases were recorded below 5 cm depth, whereas at 2 cm maximum soil temperatures varied from 29 to 38°C. Possible influences of fuel load and moisture on the recorded data and on the behaviour of fire in the cerrado ecosystems are discussed.

In 14 forest plots (36 m2) all terrestrial plant species were recorded before slashing and burning of the vegetation. During subsequent cultivation with rainfed rice all resprouting plants were registered in permanent plots (72 m2). The fields studied (one per forest) covered all combinations of forest type and soil usually cultivated on local farms. Forest plots (total 409 species) and field plots (358 species) had 226 species in common. Most resprouting plants were woody. Though nine forests in the sample were secondary, 70% of resprouting plants belonged to primary forest species and with three exceptions, these species did not regenerate by seed.

Experiments in one field inlcuded: different intensities of initial burning, weeding (none, once, twice) and length of the rice cultivation period (1, 2, 3 y). Resprouting plants were monitored in permanent plots (108 m2) during 3 y of cultivation and 2 y of fallow. More plants resprouted after a mild initial burning (5.8 plants m−2) than after a burn of normal intensity (1.4 plants m−2). Weeding and prolonged cultivation strongly reduced species diversity but plant densities were less affected because some climbers and trees were apparently stimulated and expanded.

Fields abandoned after one rice harvest had, within six months, a closed forest canopy of pioneer trees emerging from the pre-existing seed bank and from the growth of resprouting trees. Prolonged cultivation (3 y) destroyed the pre-existing seed bank but affected sprouting plants less, these being the only component in the vegetation able to shade out weeds and forbs such as Chromolaena odorata.

This paper presents the quantities of macro-nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S) released from the ground layer vegetation to the atmosphere during six experimental burnings, in a Brazilian open savanna, named ‘campo-cerrado’. The values were obtained by comparing the amounts of nutrients in the fuel and in the ash resulting after the burn, in three different seasons. On average, 20.6 kg of N, 1.6kg of P, 7.1 kg of K, 12.1kg of Ca, 3.0 kg of Mg, and 3.2kg of S ha−1 were transferred from the plant biomass to the atmosphere, representing mean percentages of 95% for N, 51% for P, 44% for K, 52% for Ca, 42% for Mg, and 59% for S. The burn season showed no significant influence on the amounts of nutrients transferred to the atmosphere. Some relationships involving the quantities of macro-nutrients released, fuel moisture, the combustion efficiency during the burns, and the initial standing biomass in the area were also tested. Comparing the average output of macro-nutrients to the atmosphere obtained in this study with their inputs via rainfall, in the same area, it was estimated that three years would be an adequate interval between prescribed burnings for this campo-cerrado, to speed up nutrient recycling without impoverishing the system.

Lac Alaotra is Madagascar's largest lake and a recognized wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. It supports several Critically Endangered species, including the Alaotran gentle lemur Hapalemur alaotrensis. A principal threat facing the remaining Alaotran wetland is anthropogenic burning of the vegetation during the dry season; a practice now officially banned. A number of reasons have been given to explain this but to date no attempt has been made to investigate the principal motivations for the burning. We present the results of semi-structured interviews (n = 27) and questionnaires (n = 122) in a lakeside town. Seventy-eight percent of interviewees stated wetland burning was performed only or mainly to gather an introduced fish, the Asian snakehead Channa maculata, which buries into the underlying substrate during the dry season. Sixty-eight percent of questionnaire respondents provided a similar explanation. These data provide valuable insights into the reasons for the ongoing burning and should inform the management actions that are required to protect this globally important wetland.

Perennial grain production will likely present unique challenges for managing diseases that affect the productivity and longevity of crops being considered. Typical cultural practices effective at reducing soil- and residue-borne pathogens, such as annual crop rotations, delayed fall planting, and tillage, are not feasible in perennial systems. Consequently, soil- and residue-borne pathogens, and pathogens such as root colonizers and viruses that survive in live tissue, may increase in importance in a perennial grain crop. Resistance genes will undeniably be important defenses against disease. However, it is seldom, if ever, possible to incorporate within a single cultivar resistance to all existing and future important diseases. Furthermore, genes vulnerable to ‘boom and bust’ cycles are generally short-lived when deployed in monocultures. For these reasons, the use of mixtures of crop cultivars or species that vary in resistance functions will likely be an important strategy for managing diseases and pests of perennial grains. Burning of plant residue, a natural phenomenon in native perennial grass systems, may also be an effective disease management strategy. The successful implementation of these management tools may reduce or eliminate the risk that perennial grain crops will become pathogen refugia that affect neighboring annual plantings and the productivity of perennial plants.

The focus of this article is the use and abandonment of the rectangular timber buildings of the Irish early Neolithic, a period that corresponds roughly with the first half of the fourth millennium cal BC. While they do not represent the only remains of occupation at this time, the fact that they display a striking degree of homogeneity of size, shape and materials makes them an especially interesting part of settlement activity on the island. One particular feature of this patterning is the frequency with which early Neolithic timber buildings have been substantially or completely destroyed by fire. It will be argued below that this burning was deliberate and played an important role in the lifecycle – the creation, maintenance and destruction – of these buildings. To provide a context for this discussion, a more in-depth look will be taken at these distinctive buildings and at their form and function.