Sagebrush Ecosystems
Sagebrush Ecosystems
Filter Total Items: 43
Longevity of Herbicides Targeting Exotic Annual Grasses in Sagebrush-Steppe Soils
Pre-emergent herbicides applied to soil are a primary tool for reducing exotic annual grasses, such as cheatgrass, in sagebrush steppe rangelands. Effective herbicide application can allow existing perennials to grow and spread to outcompete cheatgrass, preventing reinvasion, but most perennials are slow-growing and require more years of relief from annual-grass competition than standard...
Vegetation and Fuel Responses to Linear Fuel-Break Treatments in and around Burned Sagebrush Steppe
After the Soda Wildfire burned nearly 280,000 acres of public public and private land in southwest Idaho, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Emergency and Rehabilitation and Stabilization program (ESR) applied herbicide and seeding treatments to prevent exotic annual grass invasion and restore native vegetation. To reduce the threat of future wildfire, the BLM also constructed a network of...
Grazing Effects on the Annual Grass Fire-Cycle after Post Fire Management
In order to break the annual grass fire-cycle in the sagebrush steppe, land managers use pre-emergent herbicides to reduce annual grass populations and seeding to increase fire-tolerant perennials. These tools must be applied to the same soils in ways that are not counterproductive, and their application must therefore be staggered in time, which we refer to as layering. Livestock grazing can also...
Quantifying Carbon Storage and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Sagebrush Rangelands
Management partners have identified a major need to understand the short and long-term consequences of altered wildfire patterns, vegetation change, climate change, and management actions for the carbon cycle. This project aims to quantify carbon storage and greenhouse gas emissions in sagebrush rangelands. Researchers will link findings to the Sagebrush Conservation Design Framework and provide...
Systematic Review and Analysis of Seeding and Herbicide Treatment in the Sagebrush Steppe
Seeding and herbicide treatments are a key aspect of the strategy used to break the annual grass-fire cycle in sagebrush steppe. However, past studies report considerable variability in the effectiveness of seeding and herbicide treatments. To generate a more consistent interpretation of post-fire herbicide and seeding effects, we are compiling, reviewing, and synthesizing findings from past...
Modeling Songbird Density-Habitat Relationships to Predict Population Responses to Environmental Change Within Pinyon-juniper and Sagebrush Ecosystems
Within areas of overlapping sagebrush and pinyon-juniper ecosystems, wildlife populations are declining due to habitat fragmentation and degradation, changing climate, and human development. However, management to bolster species associated with one ecosystem may result in negative consequences for species associated with the other. Thus, land managers are challenged with balancing which system to...
Field of Sagebrush Dreams: Planting and Restoring Functional Sagebrush in Burned Landscapes
Increased wildfire-induced loss of sagebrush in North American shrublands are outpacing natural recovery and leading to substantial habitat loss for sagebrush-obligate species like sage-grouse. The products and information developed for this project will help restoration practitioners, biologists, and land managers evaluate the efficacy of sagebrush restoration approaches as well as their ability...