Research and Publications
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Overall, indaziflam + imazapic had greater initial control of cheatgrass, but by 2023, both treatments led to similar ∼17 percentage-point reductions in cheatgrass cover. Cheatgrass individuals that “escaped” the herbicide treatment grew exceptionally large and fecund. There were no reductions in cover in any native vegetation type, including biocrusts, and nontarget increases in cover were observed for 1) deep-rooted perennial grasses treated with indaziflam + imazapic in the 2011 burn subregion and 2) the shallow-rooted Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda) treated with either herbicide in the 2011 or 2011 + 2019 burn subregions. Consideration of burn legacies, pretreatment landscape condition, and evenness of treatment application may improve restoration outcomes and help prioritize management allocation, timing, and treatment expectations.
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Our research shows that across deserts, grasslands, and forests, plant communities with higher abundance of naturalized species are more acquisitive above and belowground, shorter, more shallowly rooted, and less dependent on mycorrhizal symbionts for resource acquisition. These functional shifts likely drive observed changes in carbon storage, litter decomposition, and nutrient and water cycling in invaded ecosystems. This mechanistic understanding of functional community change is a crucial step toward predicting and mitigating impacts of naturalized and invasive species.
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Using the Gunnison sage-grouse as a case study, we leveraged existing resource selection function models to identify areas of high restoration potential across landscapes with variable habitat conditions and habitat-use responses. We also tested how this information could be used to improve restoration planning. We simulated change in model covariates across crucial habitats for a suite of restoration actions to generate heatmaps of relative habitat suitability improvement potential, then assessed the degree to which use of these heatmaps to guide placement of restoration actions could improve suitability outcomes. We also simulated new or worsening plant invasions and projected the resulting loss or degradation of habitats across space. We found substantial spatial variation in projected changes to habitat suitability and new habitat created, both across and among crucial habitats. Use of our heatmaps to target placement of restoration actions improved habitat suitability nearly fourfold and increased new habitat created more than 15-fold, compared to placements unguided by heatmaps. Our decision-support products identified areas of high restoration potential across landscapes with variable habitat conditions and habitat-use responses. We demonstrate their utility for strategic targeting of habitat restoration actions, facilitating optimal allocation of limited management resources to benefit species of conservation concern.
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The word “risk” is often used informally to talk about feelings of danger or chances of loss. When communicating about wildfire risk, both inside the Forest Service and with the public and others, careful and intentional use of the term “risk” is more likely to increase shared understanding of all involved. What does “risk” mean? How is risk measured? How can wildfire risk be reduced? Can wildfire risk be eliminated? Here, we share definitions of risk in a technical sense, consistent with how the insurance industry considers risk. We focus mainly on wildfire risk related to communities, and how that risk can be reduced.
This special issue of Rangeland Ecology and Management is dedicated to applying the Sagebrush Conservation Design (SCD) to improve conservation outcomes across the sagebrush biome in the face of pervasive ecosystem threats.
Articles included:
State of the sagebrush: Implementing the Sagebrush Conservation Design to save a biome
Closing the conservation gap: Spatial targeting and coordination are needed for to keep pace with sagebrush losses
Climate change amplifies declines in sagebrush ecological integrity
Well-connected core areas retain ecological integrity of sagebrush ecosystems amidst overall declines 2001–2021
Spatial prioritization of conifer management to defend and grow sagebrush cores
A strategic and science-based framework for management of invasive annual grasses in the sagebrush biome
Modeling cropland conversion risk to scale-up averted loss of core sagebrush rangelands
Characterizing wildfire risk for the Sagebrush Conservation Design
An assessment of conservation opportunities within sagebrush ecosystems of US National Parks and Wildlife Refuges
Tool to promote stepping down the Sagebrush Conservation Design to local conservation planning
Exploring the sage grouse initiative’s role in defending and growing sagebrush core areas
Satellite remote sensing to assess shrubland vegetation responses to large-scale juniper removal in the northern Great Basin
Cooperative conservation actions improve sage-grouse population performance within the bi-state distinct population segment
Evaluating the Sagebrush Conservation Design Strategy through the performance of a sagebrush indicator species
How a Sagebrush Conservation Strategy benefits rangeland birds
Carbon Security Index: Novel approach to assessing how secure carbon is in sagebrush ecosystems within the Great Basin
Using technical transfer to bridge science production and management action
Assessing conservation readiness: The where, who, and how of strategic conservation in the sagebrush biome
Where do we go from here with sagebrush conservation: A long-term perspective?
There is no hope without change: A perspective on how we conserve the sagebrush biome
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Abundances of dominant invaders, cheatgrass and Russian thistle, were measured along treated and neighboring untreated edges in 40 paired plots along ∼61 km of 60-m wide fuel breaks. Fuel breaks were constructed using a variety of shrub-cutting and herbicide applications 1–4 yr before measurement. Generalized linear mixed effect models revealed that fractional cover significantly increased in treated compared with untreated areas by 0.02–0.12 for cheatgrass and 0–0.06 for Russian thistle within 9 m of treatment boundaries (on a scale of 0-1). We neither detected increased invasion in adjacent and untreated areas nor gradients of increasing invasion with proximity to treatment boundaries. Although these findings reveal invasions that were otherwise undetected across the entire 60 m width of fuel breaks, invasion levels did not surpass nominal management thresholds for fire behavior or risk of conversion to annual grasslands.
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Fire is an integral component of many Southwest ecosystems; however, fire regimes across the region have been affected by climate change, creating conditions to which these ecosystems have not adapted. Since 1980, fire frequency, size and severity have increased in many ecosystems in the western US due to changes in climate combined with a history of fire suppression and other forest management practices, such as grazing and logging…
…The goal of this synthesis is to provide a summary of the literature, published in 2023, on fire and fire-related topics
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An extreme multi-year drought with extensive bark beetle outbreaks in California from 2012 to 2016 killed an estimated 147 million trees. This included ponderosa pine, incense cedar, white fir, and pinyon pine, rapidly changing forests over vast areas. Recently published work by Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) researchers Sharon Hood and Charlotte Reed found that major tree mortality events like these increase surface and canopy fuels— dead needles, branches, and logs— which may result in more extreme forest fires and increased emissions when these areas burn. “Hopefully, this research heightens awareness about how quickly our forests can change under extreme mortality events and the potential long-lasting hazards that are created,” says Hood.
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Climate change is altering fire regimes and post-fire conditions, contributing to relatively rapid transformation of landscapes across the western US. Studies are increasingly documenting post-fire vegetation transitions, particularly from forest to non-forest conditions or from sagebrush to invasive annual grasses. The prevalence of climate-driven, post-fire vegetation transitions is likely to increase in the future with major impacts on social–ecological systems. However, research and management communities have only recently focused attention on this emerging climate risk, and many knowledge gaps remain. We identify three key needs for advancing the management of post-fire vegetation transitions, including centering Indigenous communities in collaborative management of fire-prone ecosystems, developing decision-relevant science to inform pre-and post-fire management, and supporting adaptive management through improved monitoring and information-sharing across geographic and organizational boundaries. We highlight promising examples that are helping to transform the perception and management of post-fire vegetation transitions.