Fire plays an important role in shaping various aspects of tallgrass prairies.
At McKnight prairie the mean initial height of the plants in the 1999 burn treatment was significantly greater than the plants in the 2000 and 1998 burn treatments. However, there was no significant difference between the three treatments for the mean change in plant height. Part of this result can be attributed to a disproportionate number of plants that withered in the 1998 and 1999 burn treatments between the two measurement dates. At Hillside prairie the mean initial height of the plants in the 1998 burn treatment was significantly greater than the mean initial height of the 2000 burn treatment, but the 2000 burn treatment had significantly greater growth between May 19 and May 28. From these results I concluded that the growth rate of L. capitata may increase with proximity in time to a fire event.