Kansas State University researchers have found a three-year absence of fire is the tipping point for the tallgrass prairie ecosystem and advise an increase in burning.

A collaborative study suggests many land managers in the Flint Hills need to increase burning frequency to more than once every three years to keep the tallgrass prairie system from transitioning to woodland. The study applied 40 years of data collected at Konza Prairie Biological Station to satellite fire maps of the Flint Hills from 2000 to 2010.

Researchers on the study are advising an increase in burning in many areas even though they realize this might stimulate discussion locally and for communities downwind.  The director of Konza Prairie and one of the authors of the study, John Briggs, said, “This comes at a time where people are really concerned about smoke and our suggestion to increase burning comes with a trade-off. We are going to have more fire and more smoke, which can affect the air quality in the region and other parts of North America.”

To find solutions Briggs said to find solutions for this problem, land managers are working with fire cooperatives and the Kansas Flint Hills Smoke management to find best practices and compromise.