Research and Publications
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In this study, researchers determined vegetation response to fuel reduction by tree mastication (shredding) or seeding and then shredding by measuring cover of shrub and herbaceous functional groups on shredded and adjacent untreated areas on 44 sites in Utah. Findings suggested that shredding or seeding and then shredding should facilitate wildfire suppression, increase resistance to weed dominance, and lead toward greater resilience to disturbance by increasing perennial herbaceous cover.
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This New York Times article reports on the lengthening fire season in the western US and beyond. From the article: Fires, once largely confined to a single season, have become a continual threat in some places, burning earlier and later in the year, in the United States and abroad. They have ignited in the West during the winter and well into the fall, have arrived earlier than ever in Canada and have burned without interruption in Australia for almost 12 months.
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This study investigated the effects of container volume and fertilization on the performance of nursery-grown Wyoming big sagebrush seedlings following outplanting. Researchers found that container volume may influence seedling morphology and optimize establishment, while field fertilization, especially during spring outplanting when planting sites have low moisture availability, may hinder first-year survival.
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Abstracts of recent papers on climate change and land management in the West, prepared by Louisa Evers, Science Liaison and Climate Change Coordinator, BLM, OR-WA State Office.
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These abstracts of recent papers on rangeland management in the West were prepared by Charlie Clements, Rangeland Scientist, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Reno, NV.
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This technical note provides a brief synopsis of proactive, linear fuel breaks as a tool for reducing negative impacts associated with large-scale wildfire in sagebrush ecosystems. The note summarizes what fuel breaks are designed to do, features of effective fuel breaks, specifications of common fuel break designs, and maintenance and management considerations based on a compilation of existing publications and practical lessons learned from past greenstrip and plant materials trials in the Great Basin. The purpose is primarily to provide practitioners with sufficient information to begin cooperative landscape planning efforts.
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This study analyzed seasonal variation in the relative availability of soil water for the years 2001, 2004, and 2007, representing respectively, low, moderate, and high rankings of areas burned. For these selected years, the model predicted where forest fires >1 km occurred and did not occur at ~100,000 randomly located pixels with an average accuracy of 69%. The model identified four seasonal combinations, most of which included exhaustion of available water storage capacity during the summer as critical; two combinations involving antecedent conditions the previous spring or fall accounted for 86% of the predicted fires. The approach introduced in this paper can help identify forested areas where management efforts to reduce fire hazards might prove most beneficial.
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This study compared trees in 6- to 28-year-old burned and unburned sites in the third drought year in mixed conifer forests at low elevation in Kings Canyon, Sequoia, and Yosemite national parks in California, USA. Common conifer species found in the burned plots had significantly reduced probability of mortality compared to unburned plots during the drought. Stand density was significantly lower in burned versus unburned sites, supporting the idea that reduced competition may be responsible for the differential drought mortality response.
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In this article, researchers report a dramatic population number expansion of Salsola ryanii in the decade since it was originally documented. Salsola ryanii has every indication of being just as invasive as its highly invasive parents.
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In this Live Science article, Francis Kilkenny, lead of Great Basin Native Plant Project (GBNPP), shares information about the GBNPP and how it continues to support more successful rangeland restoration.
Lessons learned, so far include:
- Climate is more important than geography when predicting how well seeds will grow and establish themselves. Seeds don’t care where their parents lived if the temperature suits them and if they get the right amount of sunshine and precipitation.
- Timing of seed planting makes a big difference. Year to year, even week to week, variation in weather patterns can affect the restoration success of a burned site.
- Method of planting matters. To achieve the best results, scientists recommend tamping seeds into the ground to ensure they have good contact with the soil, or in some cases, planting a species in the form of “plugs.”
- Long-term monitoring after planting is critical to determine the effectiveness of different seed mixes and restoration techniques.
- Keeping livestock off seeded rangeland for at least three years improves a restoration effort’s likelihood of success.