Climate & Fire & Adaptation
A multidisciplinary team of agency and university researchers presented assessments of current connectivity of riparian vegetation and wildlife habitat including sage-grouse and projections of connectivity for multiple species of animals and plants under different scenarios of environmental change.
Workshop presentations in pdf format:
Great Basin Fire Science Delivery Project– Eugénie MontBlanc
Great Basin Research and Management Partnership – Jeanne Chambers
Great Basin Landscape Conservation Cooperative – Mike Pellant
Great Basin Environmental Program website – Bob Alverts
Connectivity for greater sage-grouse – Steve Knick
Projecting Current and Future Connectivity– Erica Fleishman
Connectivity Analysis Toolkit – Carlos Carroll
Data Basin – Tosha Comendant
This workshop was a collaborative effort of the Great Basin Fire Science Exchange and the Great Basin Connectivity Working Group.
Webinar recording
This webinar describes tools for using geospatial technologies to focus management in those areas that will most contribute to the conservation of sagebrush communities important to sage-grouse given anticipated landscape changes.
Presented by Chris Balzotti, Stan Kitchen, and Clint McCarthy, and hosted by the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station.
Erik Beever, USGS, presented this webinar to the Great Basin LCC on his results on pika distribution and climate change using historical surveys, more-systematic and more-comprehensive recent surveys, and a diversity of technological and modeling advances. The information will help tackle numerous questions at the interface of how Great Basin systems work and how Basin resources may be managed and conserved, amidst contemporary climate change and other influences.
Recordings from the February 2016 Sagebrush Ecosystem Conservation Conference co-sponsored by the Great Basin Consortium and the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and Utah State University.
View brief.
In this paper, the authors describe an approach to facilitate development and implementation of climate change adaptation options in forest management which they applied to a case study area in southwestern Oregon, USA. Their approach relied on participation of local specialists across multiple organizations to establish a science–manager partnership, development of climate change education in multiple formats, hands-on development of adaptation options, and application of tools to incorporate climate change in planned projects.
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This study examined multiple environmental factors related to climate change that affect cattle production on rangelands to identify sources of vulnerability among seven regions of the western United States. Analyses indicated 1) an increase in forage quantity in northern regions; 2) a move from woody dominance toward grassier vegetation types overall but with considerable spatial heterogeneity; 3) a substantial increase in the number of heat-stress days across all regions beginning as early as 2020–2030; and 4) higher interannual variability of forage quantity for most regions. All four factors evaluated in tandem suggest declining production in southern and western regions.
View research brief.
This brief summarizes work by researchers who modeled exactly how problematic the grass-fire cycle could be for non-fire-adapted desert shrublands under three sets of climate conditions. Specifically, three different degrees of inter-annual precipitation variability (i.e., none, medium, and extreme climate change variability; sigma = 0 to 0.8) and related invasive grass cover biomass was modeled to theoretically induce land degradation.
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In this study, spectrophotometry was used to quantify chemical differences in the water-soluble compound, coumarin. Ultraviolet (UV) absorbance of A. tridentata subsp. vaseyana showed distinct differences among A.t. tridentata and wyomingensis. Use of spectrophotometry to acquire UV absorbance provides empirical results that can be used in seed testing laboratories using the seed chaff present with the seed to certify A. tridentata subspecies composition.
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Skillful seasonal climate forecasts could greatly improve the cost efficiency of management treatments by limiting revegetation activities to time periods where forecasts suggest higher probabilities of successful seedling establishment. Climate-change projections are key to the application of current environmental models for development of mitigation and adaptation strategies and for management practices that require a multidecadal planning horizon. Adoption of new weather technology will require collaboration between land managers and revegetation specialists and modifications to the way we currently plan and conduct rangeland rehabilitation and restoration in the Intermountain West.
View guide.
The following framework 1) advocates deepening democratic practices at the local and regional levels, 2) seeks to put forth the principles and practices defining this emergent field, and 3) outlines resources for community-based institutions implementing community-driven planning processes.