Roy, BittyRalston, Ellen2024-08-302024-08-302024https://hdl.handle.net/1794/2999632 pagesPrairies in the PNW were historically maintained by Indigenous burning practices, which favored some of their food plants and kept the prairies from becoming forested. Current prairie restoration practices are returning to the use of fire, but the consequences of fire for decomposition are unknown in these prairies. To examine decomposition, litter from both burned and unburned prairies was put in decomposition bags, and the bags were removed and weighed at three, six, and nine months. Half of all litter samples were also sterilized to remove their native fungal endophytes to determine whether that reduced decomposition. In general, litter from burned prairies had greater decomposition than litter from unburned prairies. Sterilized litter also had greater decomposition than unsterilized. This information can aid prairie managers as they continue to use fire to manage Oregon prairies.en-USCC BY-NC-ND 4.0DecompositionFirePrairiesLitter decompositionEndophytesThesis/Dissertation