Landscape Analysis

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International Symposium on Conservation Impact

Symposium website.

Event location: CSU Spur, Hydro Theater; Denver, Colorado

Description: Nature-based solutions are increasingly being recognized as critical tools to making progress towards both climate and biodiversity goals, and countries around the world have committed to both measurable targets and funding to help
reach them. The Symposium will connect the dots across existing efforts across sectors and the continent. Diverse thought leaders from across North America will share innovations and best practices for creating a more nature-positive future. And attendees will learn about high-level challenges and opportunities that we all face in trying to solve the environmental crisis.

*Early-bird pricing ends July 28.

Webinar, video, audio icon

A west-wide rangeland fuel assessment – Timing is Everything: Season 4, Episode 2 of Reading the Tea Leaves

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In fire, fuels weather and topography mean everything. Fuels weather and topography and the timing of these components of the fire triangle must align properly for large fires to occur. Despite uncharacteristically large and continuous fuelbeds in numerous areas, however, it’s been a slow start to the fire season in the coterminous US.
In this webcast, Research Ecologist Dr. Matt Reeves analyzes rangeland fuel conditions across the West with an emphasis on how fire weather and rangeland fuels have not yet converged in 2023. All 2022 recordings are located on the Reading the Tea Leaves page.
Projections are based on Reeves’ Fuelcasting system – a component of the Rangeland Production Monitoring Service that provides projections of expected fuel conditions this grazing season.

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Using neutral landscape models to evaluate the umbrella species concept for greater sage-grouse in an ecotone

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Three species (western meadowlark Sturnella neglecta, loggerhead shrike Lanius ludovicianus, and lark bunting Calamospiza melanocorys) had greater overlap than expected with at least one type of greater sage-grouse habitat, while western kingbirds (Tyrannus verticalis) indicated avoidance of all sage-grouse habitat assessed.

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Temporal patterns of structural sagebrush connectivity from 1985 to 2020

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By comparing connectivity patterns over time, we found that most of the biome experienced moderate change; the amount and type of change varied spatially, indicating that areas differ in the trend direction and magnitude of change. Two different types of designated areas of conservation and management interest had relatively high proportions of stable, high-connectivity patterns over time and stable connectivity trends on average. These results provide ecological information on sagebrush connectivity persistence across spatial and temporal scales that can support targeted actions to address changing structural connectivity and to maintain functioning, connected ecosystems.

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Human population growth and accessibility from cities shape rangeland condition in the American West

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Human population growth contributes to the decline of sagebrush-steppe rangelands. More accessible rangelands from population centers have higher quality. Open space preservation provides opportunities for rangeland conservation in cities. Coordinated conservation strategies are necessary to protect rangeland ecosystems.

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Bird associations with floristics and physiognomy differ across five biogeographic subregions of the Great Basin

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The plant species and functional groups that were associated significantly with occupancy varied considerably among subregions. Twenty-four percent of bird-plant associations that were significant at the Great Basin level were not significant in any subregion. Associations between occupancy and floristics differed the most between the Sierra Nevada and central or western subregions, and the least between the eastern and western subregions. Associations between occupancy and physiognomy differed the most between the Sierra Nevada and western and central subregions, and the least between the northern and western subregions. These differences and similarities may reflect variations in climate or bird communities or differences in sampling effort. In addition, the number and strength of associations between occupancy and floristic or physiognomic covariates varied substantially among bird species and subregions. We recommend that the management of birds across the Great Basin or other large ecoregions evaluate and account for geographic variation in environmental attributes associated with occupancy, and not assume bird-plant relations are consistent across the Great Basin.

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Long-term trends in vegetation on BLM rangelands in the western US

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We found widespread increases in cover and production of annual grasses and forbs, declines in herbaceous perennial cover, and expansion of trees. Cover and production of annual plants now exceed that of perennials on > 21 million ha of BLM rangeland, marking a fundamental shift in the ecology of these lands. This trend was most dramatic in the Western Cold Desert of Nevada and parts of surrounding states where aboveground production of annuals has more than tripled. Trends in annuals were negatively correlated with trends in bare ground but not with trends in perennials, suggesting that annuals are filling in bare ground rather than displacing perennials. Tree cover increased in half of ecoregions affecting some 44 million ha and underscoring the threat of woodland expansion for western rangelands. A multiscale variance partitioning analysis found that trends often varied the most at the finest spatial scale. This result reinforces the need to combine plot-level field data with moderate-resolution remote sensing to accurately quantify vegetation changes in heterogeneous rangelands. The long-term changes in vegetation on public rangelands argue for a more hands-on approach to management, emphasizing preventative treatment and restoration to preserve rangeland habitat and functioning. Our work shows the power of new remote-sensing tools for monitoring public rangelands and developing effective strategies for adaptive management and conservation.

 

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Leveraging LANDFIRE to understand ecological conditions across National Forests and Grasslands

Webinar recording.

US Forest Service Ecologist, Sarah M. Anderson explains the Terrestrial Condition Assessment and how LANDFIRE products have informed the TCA. Sarah fields questions ranging from using the TCA to monitor ecological conditions, wildfire severity/fire deficits, KPIs in the USFS, and what it might take to move the needle on forest restoration.

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Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool

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This tool is called the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool. The tool has an interactive map and uses datasets that are indicators of burdens in eight categories: climate change, energy, health, housing, legacy pollution, transportation, water and wastewater, and workforce development. The tool uses this information to identify communities that are experiencing these burdens. These are the communities that are disadvantaged because they are overburdened and underserved.

 

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Firetopia Land Use Toolbox

Access Firetopia.

Land use planning tool from Headwaters Economics. Includes information on:

  • Community planning
  • Land development
  • Building and fire codes
  • Fuels treatment
  • Funding and engagement

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