Sagebrush
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The objective of this study was to investigate how climate, land use and community structure may explain these patterns of species dominance. We found that differences in summer precipitation and winter minimum temperature, land use intensity, and shrub size may all contribute to the dominance of annual species in the Great Basin, particularly cheatgrass. In particular, previous work indicates that summer precipitation and winter temperature drive the distribution of cheatgrass in the Great Basin. As a result, sites with wet summers and cold springs, similar to the Chinese sites, would not be expected to be dominated by cheatgrass. A history of more intense grazing of the Chinese sites, as described in the literature, also is likely to decrease fire frequency, and decreases litter and shrub dominance, all of which have been demonstrated to be important in cheatgrass establishment and ultimate dominance. Further research is necessary to determine if other annuals that follow the same pattern of scarcity in the Junggar Basin and dominance in the Great Basin are responding to the same influences.
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Grazing exacerbates Bromus tectorum dominance in one of North America’s most endangered ecosystems by adversely impacting key mechanisms mediating resistance to invasion. If the goal is to conserve and restore resistance of these systems, managers should consider maintaining or restoring: (i) high bunchgrass cover and structure characterized by spatially dispersed bunchgrasses and small gaps between them; (ii) a diverse assemblage of bunchgrass species to maximize competitive interactions with B. tectorum in time and space; and (iii) biological soil crusts to limit B. tectorum establishment. Passive restoration by reducing cumulative cattle grazing may be one of the most effective means of achieving these three goals.
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This fact sheet provides managers with strategies to reduce the spread and impact of medusahead.
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Bareroot or container seedlings can be used to quickly re-establish big sagebrush and other native shrubs in situations where direct seeding is not feasible or unlikely to succeed. Guidelines are provided for developing a planting plan and timeline, arranging for seedling production, and installing and managing outplantings.
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View fact sheet, pg. 33.
This fact sheet provides guidelines for maintaining productive sagebrush steppe communities in grazed areas after fire. The focus is on plant communities that, prior to fire, were largely intact and had an understory of native perennial herbaceous species or introduced bunchgrass, rather than invasive annual grass.
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This fact sheet provides a framework for the placement, use, and effectiveness of established fuel breaks for protecting sagebrush ecosystems.
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This fact sheet provides land managers with a brief summary of the effects of conifer expansion and infill in sagebrush ecosystems and of potential management strategies.
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This fact sheet provides managers with tools and strategies to reestablish perennial-dominated plant communities in medusahead-invaded sagebrush rangelands.
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Land managers are increasingly interested in improving resilience to disturbances,such as wildfire, and resistance to invasive species,such as cheatgrass and medusahead. This fact sheet is designed to assist land managers in resilience and resistance concepts to assess risks, prioritize management activities, and select treatments.
This is the first of many topics reviewed in the Great Basin Fact Sheet series.
View fact sheet, pg. 43.
This fact sheet defines Great Basin wildland fuels and reviews some of the approaches used to assess fuel loads in Great Basin ecosystems.
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