Publications
Find out more about the Land Management Research Program through our publications.
The U.S. Geological Survey Landscape Science Strategy 2020-2030 gives an in-depth explanation of the focus and vision for USGS landscape science.
Filter Total Items: 258
Niche shifts and energetic condition of songbirds in response to phenology of food-resource availability in a high-elevation sagebrush ecosystem
Seasonal fluctuations in food availability can affect diets of consumers, which in turn may influence the physiological state of individuals and shape intra- and inter-specific patterns of resource use. High-elevation ecosystems often exhibit a pronounced seasonal “pulse” in productivity, although few studies document how resource use and energetic condition by avian consumers change in...
Authors
Kyle A. Cutting, Michelle L. Anderson, Erik A. Beever, Sean Schroff, Nathan Korb, Eric Klaphake, Scott R. McWilliams
Transition of vegetation states positively affects harvester ants in the Great Basin, United States
Invasions by non-native plants can alter ecosystems such that new ecological states are reached, but less is known about how these transitions influence animal populations. Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) ecosystems are experiencing state changes because of fire and invasion by exotic annual grasses. Our goal was to study the effects of these state changes on the Owyhee and western...
Authors
Joseph D. Holbrook, David Pilliod, Robert Arkle, Janet L. Rachlow, Kerri T. Vierling, Michelle M. Wiest
Preserving prairies: Understanding temporal and spatial patterns of invasive annual bromes in the Northern Great Plains
Two Eurasian invasive annual brome grasses, cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and Japanese brome (Bromus japonicus), are well known for their impact in steppe ecosystems of the western United States where these grasses have altered fire regimes, reduced native plant diversity and abundance, and degraded wildlife habitat. Annual bromes are also abundant in the grasslands of the Northern Great...
Authors
Isabel W. Ashton, Amy Symstad, Christopher J. Davis, Daniel J. Swanson
Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming
Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5089 and accompanying data releases are the products of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Sagebrush Mineral-Resource Assessment (SaMiRA). The assessment was done at the request of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to evaluate the mineral-resource potential of some 10 million acres of Federal and adjacent lands in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon...
By
Energy and Mineral Resources Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Land Management Research Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, National Minerals Information Center
Identifying key climate and environmental factors affecting rates of post-fire big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) recovery in the northern Columbia Basin, USA
Sagebrush steppe of North America is considered highly imperilled, in part owing to increased fire frequency. Sagebrush ecosystems support numerous species, and it is important to understand those factors that affect rates of post-fire sagebrush recovery. We explored recovery of Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp.wyomingensis) and basin big sagebrush (A. tridentata ssp...
Authors
Douglas J. Shinneman, Susan McIlroy
Cheatgrass percent cover change: Comparing recent estimates to climate change − Driven predictions in the Northern Great Basin
Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) is a highly invasive species in the Northern Great Basin that helps decrease fire return intervals. Fire fragments the shrub steppe and reduces its capacity to provide forage for livestock and wildlife and habitat critical to sagebrush obligates. Of particular interest is the greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), an obligate whose populations...
Authors
Stephen P. Boyte, Bruce Wylie, Donald J. Major
Lesser Prairie-Chickens of the sand sagebrush prairie
No abstract available.
Authors
David A. Haukos, Aron A. Flanders, Christian A. Hagen, James W. Pitman
Spatially explicit modeling of annual and seasonal habitat for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in Nevada and Northeastern California—An updated decision-support tool for management
Successful adaptive management hinges largely upon integrating new and improved sources of information as they become available. As a timely example of this tenet, we updated a management decision support tool that was previously developed for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereinafter referred to as “sage-grouse”) populations in Nevada and California. Specifically...
Authors
Peter S. Coates, Michael L. Casazza, Brianne E. Brussee, Mark A. Ricca, K. Benjamin Gustafson, Erika Sanchez-Chopitea, Kimberly Mauch, Lara E. Niell, Scott L. Gardner, Shawn P. Espinosa, David J. Delehanty
Landsat 8 and ICESat-2: Performance and potential synergies for quantifying dryland ecosystem vegetation cover and biomass
The Landsat 8 mission provides new opportunities for quantifying the distribution of above-ground carbon at moderate spatial resolution across the globe, and in particular drylands. Furthermore, coupled with structural information from space-based and airborne laser altimetry, Landsat 8 provides powerful capabilities for large-area, long-term studies that quantify temporal and spatial...
Authors
Nancy F. Glenn, Amy Neuenschwander, Lee A. Vierling, Lucas P. Spaete, Aihua Li, Douglas J. Shinneman, David Pilliod, Robert Arkle, Susan McIlroy
Ecosystem engineering of harvester ants: Effects on vegetation in a sagebrush-steppe ecosystem
Harvester ants are influential in many ecosystems because they distribute and consume seeds, remove vegetation, and redistribute soil particles and nutrients. Understanding the interaction between harvester ants and plant communities is important for management and restoration efforts, particularly in systems altered by fire and invasive species such as the sagebrush-steppe. Our...
Authors
Elyce Gosselin, Joseph D. Holbrook, Katey S. Huggler, Emily Brown, Kerri T. Vierling, Robert Arkle, David Pilliod
Climate adaption and post-fire restoration of a foundational perennial in cold desert: Insights from intraspecific variation in response to weather
1.The loss of foundational but fire-intolerant perennials such as sagebrush due to increases in fire size and frequency in semiarid regions has motivated efforts to restore them, often with mixed or even no success. Seeds of sagebrush Artemisia tridentata and related species must be moved considerable distances from seed source to planting sites, but such transfers have not been guided...
Authors
Martha Brabec, Matthew Germino, Bryce Richardson
Mid-latitude shrub steppe plant communities: Climate change consequences for soil water resources
In the coming century, climate change is projected to impact precipitation and temperature regimes worldwide, with especially large effects in drylands. We use big sagebrush ecosystems as a model dryland ecosystem to explore the impacts of altered climate on ecohydrology and the implications of those changes for big sagebrush plant communities using output from 10 Global Circulation...
Authors
Kyle A. Palmquist, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, John Bradford, Willliam K. Lauenroth