Sagebrush

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Multi-species management and desert landscapes

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This webinar illuminated the challenges and opportunities posed by landscape-level species management in the desert southwest. Moderator: Matt McKinney, Director of the Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Policy at the University of Montana. Panelists: Alexa Sandoval, Director, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish; John Swett, Program Manager, Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program; Jim deVos, Assistant Director, Wildlife Management, Arizona Game and Fish Department; Bill McDonald, Executive Director, Malpai Borderlands Group. This webinar is one in a series for the “Species Conservation and Endangered Species Act Initiative,” the Chairman’s Initiative of Wyoming Governor and Western Governors’ Association Chairman Matt Mead.

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Empowering private landowner conservation

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This webinar highlighted the importance of private land in species conservation efforts, innovative ways to address conservation finance, and the incentives that work for private landowners. Moderator: Chris West, Director, Rocky Mountain Regional Office of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Panelists: Amos Eno, Executive Director/President, Resources First Foundation; Jeff Morgheim, Founder and Principal, Edge Strategic Consulting, LLC; Lesli Allison, Executive Director, Western Landowners Alliance. This webinar is one in a series for the “Species Conservation and Endangered Species Act Initiative,” the Chairman’s Initiative of Wyoming Governor and Western Governors’ Association Chairman Matt Mead.

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Amount and timing of precipitation affect the structure and physiology of Artemisia tridentata

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This study found that for sagebrush seasonal timing is at least as important as the amount of precipitation, and that responses to changes in precipitation timing occur through changes in carbon allocation more so than changes in leaf-level carbon gain.

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Wildfire and invasives in sagebrush: current and future management challenges – A gap report update

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This Gap Report Update is the latest addition to the list of valuable products of the Working Group designed to help identify the challenges (gaps) and offer ideas to address those challenges. The Gap Report Update has something for every level, public and private, to consider helping address the fire and invasive threat. It is our hope that the leaders of the various state and federal agencies will review the recommendations in the report and determine if there are things they can affect directly to address the gaps. It took a multi-agency, multi-discipline Working Group to identify the problems and provide possible solutions to these conservation and management challenges, it will certainly take a broad-based coalition of agencies, and public and private groups working together to ensure a healthy Sagebrush Biome is available for generations to come.

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Sagebrush: The West’s most important native plant

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This year marks the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the most powerful and important bird-protection law ever passed. In honor of this milestone, nature lovers around the world are joining forces to celebrate the Year of the Bird and committing to protect birds for the next hundred years. As part of this yearlong celebration, March is dedicated to highlighting native plants and their importance to birds and other wildlife. With that in mind, we want to take this opportunity to feature Artemisia tridentata, or the sagebrush plant family.

Nevada Society for Range Management Suggested Reading – Winter 2018

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Abstracts of Recent Papers on Range Management in the West. Prepared by Charlie Clements, Rangeland Scientist, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Reno, NV.

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The value of sagebrush country

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Sage grouse are the ‘canary in the coal mine’ that herald how this vital ecosystem is faring. These birds rely entirely on sagebrush-dominated landscapes: it’s their primary food source, their breeding grounds, their chick-rearing sites, their safe zones from hungry predators.

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Floral guilds of bees in sagebrush steppe: Comparing bee usage of wildflowers available for postfire restoration

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This study quantitatively characterized the floral guilds of 17 prevalent wildflower species of the Great Basin that are, or could be, available for restoration seed mixes. More than 3800 bees representing >170 species were sampled from >35,000 plants. Species of Osmia, Andrena, Bombus, Eucera, Halictus, and Lasioglossum bees prevailed. The most thoroughly collected floral guilds, at Balsamorhiza sagittata and Astragalus filipes, comprised 76 and 85 native bee species, respectively. Pollen-specialists dominated guilds at Lomatium dissectum, Penstemon speciosus, and several congenerics. In contrast, the two native wildflowers used most often in sagebrush steppe seeding mixes—Achillea millefolium and Linum lewisii—attracted the fewest bees, most of them unimportant in the other floral guilds. Successfully seeding more of the other wildflowers studied here would greatly improve degraded sagebrush steppe for its diverse native bee communities.

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Climatic influences on establishment pulses of four Artemisia species in Nevada

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Annual growth-ring analysis was used to determine the year of establishment and the relationship between recruitment and weather events. Results indicated stand ages and locations were different (P > 0.001) among species and subspecies, and years of recruitment were strongly correlated with local and hemispheric weather patterns. Linear and multiple regressions modeled recruitment pulses for all four species. Weather-based predictor variables indicated complex interactions between recruitment and climatic controls. Pacific Decadal Oscillation index variables were prominent predictors for all four species at their associated sites. Other important local weather variables included total annual precipitation the year before recruitment, the year of recruitment, and the year following recruitment. In Nevada and the Great Basin, it is imperative that successful sagebrush seeding technologies are discovered and implemented.

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Variation in sagebrush communities historically seeded with crested wheatgrass in the eastern Great Basin

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In this study, a multivariate dataset was analyzed using principal components analysis to identify “defining factors” that best explained variation among sites. Variation was primarily attributed to an inverse relationship between crested wheatgrass and sagebrush abundance (R2 = 0.69; P < 0.0001) and their affinity for either silty or sandy soil textures, respectively, as well as a negative association between crested wheatgrass abundance and species diversity (R2 = 0.67; P < 0.0001). These results do not support the assumption that crested wheatgrass seedings uniformly remain in vegetation states with low diversity and poor sagebrush reestablishment over the long term (i.e., 43 − 63 yr). We suggest that a broader interpretation of plant community dynamics is needed while avoiding generalizations of how historically seeded Wyoming big sagebrush sites will respond over time.

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