Sagebrush

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A review of fire effects on vegetation and soils in the Great Basin region: Response and ecological site characteristics

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This review synthesizes the state of knowledge on fire effects on vegetation and soils in semi-arid ecosystems in the Great Basin Region. It identifies knowledge gaps and presents a framework for predicting plant successional trajectories following wild and prescribed fires and fire surrogate treatments. Possibly the three most important ecological site characteristics that influence a site’s resilience (ability of the ecological site to recover from disturbance) and resistance to invasive species are soil temperature/moisture regimes and the composition and structure of vegetation on the ecological site just prior to the disturbance event.

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Potential effects of disturbance types and environmental variability on sagebrush-steppe community dynamics

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This study explored how fire and various other natural events might shape sagebrush ecosystems in eastern Oregon, USA, and whether those events could affect fire rotation. Results suggested other disturbance events were important in shaping all but the most productive sagebrush communities and influenced fire rotation in drier sagebrush communities. Insects and pronghorn browsing may have been as important as fire in shaping sagebrush-steppe landscapes with freezekill and snow mold locally important.

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Greater Sage-Grouse National Research Strategy

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This Research Strategy provides an outline of important research topics to ensure that science information gaps are identified and documented in a comprehensive manner. Further, by identifying priority topics and critical information needed for planning, research, and resource management, it provides a structure to help coordinate members of an expansive research and management community in their efforts to conduct priority research.

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Mowing Wyoming big sagebrush communities with degraded herbaceous understories: Has a threshold been crossed?

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The results of this study suggest that mowing, as a standalone
treatment, does not restore the herbaceous understory in degraded Wyoming big sagebrush plant communities. Mowing should not be applied in Wyoming big sagebrush plant communities with degraded understories without additional treatments to limit exotic annuals and promote perennial herbaceous vegetation.

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Pocket guide to sagebrush

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This guide was written for anyone interested in learning more about sagebrush species and habitats. It provides descriptions of some of the remarkably diverse sagebrush communities in western North America. It gives identifying characteristics and range maps of 18 species of sagebrush.

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SageSTEP – Sagebrush steppe treatment evaluation project

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SageSTEP is a long-term multidisciplinary experiment evaluating methods of sagebrush steppe restoration in the Great Basin.

You can find and access information on this project’s:

  • Land management treatments
  • Treatment effects on vegetation and fuels; soils and biogeochemistry; water runoff and erosion; wildlife and insects
  • The economics and human perspectives of management treatments
  • Association with climate change
  • Research findings thus far and project future
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Pocket guide to sagebrush birds

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This guide features 40 bird species that utilize sagebrush habitats and includes tips on species identification, biology, and conservation status. Because not all of these species require similar habitat types and not all sagebrush is managed for the same goals, this guide discusses how avian needs can be incorporated into land management plans.

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GIS database for sage-grouse and shrubsteppe management in the Intermountain West

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In this report 38 federal, state, university, and nongovernmental experts collaborated to produce new scientific information about greater sage-grouse populations, sagebrush habitats, and relationships among sage-grouse, sagebrush habitats, and land use.

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Review of fuel treatment effectiveness in forests and rangelands and a case study from the 2007 megafires in central Idaho, USA

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This report provides managers with the current state of knowledge regarding the effectiveness of fuel treatments for mitigating severe wildfire effects.  A literature review examines the effectiveness of fuel treatments that had been previously applied and were subsequently burned through by wildfire in forests and rangelands. A case study focuses on WUI fuel treatments that were burned in the 2007 East Zone and Cascade megafires in central Idaho. Both the literature review and case study results support a manager consensus that forest thinning followed by some form of slash removal is most effective for reducing subsequent wildfire severity.

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Pinon and juniper field guide: asking the right questions to select appropriate management actions

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This field guide provides substantial evidence that pinon-juniper woodlands have experienced major expansion in their distribution since the late 1800s by encroaching into surrounding landscapes once dominated by shrubs and herbaceous vegetation. Both infilling and expansion affects soil resources, plant community structure and composition, water and nutrient cycles, forage production, wildlife habitat, biodiversity, and fire patterns across the landscape. Another impact is the shift from historic fire regimes to larger and more intense wildfires that are increasingly determining the future of this landscape.

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Article / Book (130)
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Fuels & Fuel Treatments (65)
Invasive Species (61)
Landscape Analysis (16)
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