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The Science Framework is intended to link the Department of the Interior’s Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy with long-term strategic conservation actions in the sagebrush biome. The Science Framework provides a multiscale approach for prioritizing areas for management and determining effective management strategies within the sagebrush biome. The emphasis is on sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems and Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). The approach provided in the Science Framework links sagebrush ecosystem resilience to disturbance and resistance to nonnative, invasive plant species to species habitat information based on the distribution and abundance of focal species. A geospatial...
Worldwide, many species are responding to ongoing climate change with shifts in distribution, abundance, phenology, or behavior. Consequently, natural-resource managers face increasingly urgent conservation questions related to biodiversity loss, expansion of invasive species, and deteriorating ecosystem services. We argue that our ability to address these questions is hampered by the lack of explicit consideration of species’ adaptive capacity (AC). AC is the ability of a species or population to cope with climatic changes and is characterized by three fundamental components: phenotypic plasticity, dispersal ability, and genetic diversity. However, few studies simultaneously address all elements; often, AC is confused...
On July 26, 2017, Bruce Wylie and Stephen Boyte, USGS, discussed their recent research mapping herbaceous annual cover in the Great Basin.The research team utilized regression tree algorithms combined with spectral and ancillary data (for elevation, soils, etc.) to achieve accuracy-focused maps. They used high-resolution satellite data (2m) to scale ground observations to levels compatible with moderate-resolution satellites (Landsat and MODIS). The speakers also discussed data access, selected journal publications and future plans during the webinar.
On July 21, 2016, Dr. Samantha Chisholm Hatfield of Oregon State University presented findings from her research on Native cultural responses to climate change in the Great Basin.Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is based on observations of environmental surroundings over long periods of time. It is an integral aspect of Indigenous cultural knowledge, which is holistic in nature. Because climate change affects the presence, abundance and patterns of distribution of animals and plants, it is important to analyze behaviors and hear tribes’ TEK perspectives connected to those resources. In this project, researchers documented the Duckwater Shoshone and the Paiute tribes’ cultural traditions and responses to climate...
The Great Basin Landscape Conservation Cooperative draws on its Steering Committee and Science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (S-TEK) partners to prioritize and support conservation science across the Great Basin region. Over nine years, GBLCC has distributed $3.3 million in direct funds and leveraged an additional $5.2 million in matching and in-kind contributions to 50 projects including sagebrush modelling under climate scenarios, tribal adaptations to climate change, mapping of wetlands across the region and many more.
On September 26, Jeanne Chambers, U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, and Steve Hanser, U.S. Geological Survey, discussed the tools and methods developed as part of the Science Framework for the Conservation and Restoration Strategy of Sec. Order 3336.Co-hosted by the Great Basin, Great Northern, Plains and Prairie Potholes and Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperatives Department of the Interior Secretary Order 3336 called for the development of a comprehensive, science-based strategy to reduce the threat of large-scale rangeland fire to greater sage-grouse habitat and the sagebrush steppe ecosystem. The four Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) of the sagebrush steppe are pleased...
Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) is the most widespread tree species in North America, and it is found throughout much of the Mountain West (MW) across a broad range of bioclimatic regions. Aspen typically regenerates asexually and prolifically after fire, and due to its seral status in many western conifer forests, aspen is often considered dependent upon disturbance for persistence. In many landscapes, historical evidence for post-fire aspen establishment is clear, and following extended fire-free periods senescing or declining aspen overstories sometimes lack adequate regeneration and are succeeding to conifers. However, aspen also forms relatively stable stands that contain little or no evidence of...
This research highlights development and application of an integrated hydrologic model (GSFLOW) to a semiarid, snow-dominated watershed in the Great Basin to evaluate Pinyon-Juniper (PJ) and temperature controls on mountain meadow shallow groundwater. The work used Google Earth Engine Landsat satellite and gridded climate archives for model evaluation. Model simulations across three decades indicated that the watershed operates on a threshold response to precipitation (P) >400 mm/y to produce a positive yield (P-ET; 9%) resulting in stream discharge and a rebound in meadow groundwater levels during these wetter years. Observed and simulated meadow groundwater response to large P correlates with above average predicted...
Populations of Greater Sage-grouse have declined across the entire range of the species and habitat loss is considered to be the most important factor contributing to these declines (e.g., Connelly et al. 2004). Agricultural conversion, energy development, feral horses, and livestock grazing are hypothesized to contribute to habitat related threats (Range wide interagency sage grouse conservation team 2012). Substantial research has been completed to assess the effects of energy development (e.g., Walker et al. 2007) and agricultural conversion (e.g., Aldridge et al. 2008), yet, little research has been devoted to understanding the impacts of grazing by feral horses and livestock on sage-grouse demography.The Sheldon-Hart...
On August 24, 2016, Tim Brown and Greg McCurdy, Desert Research Institute, and Kathryn Dyer, BLM Nevada, presented a webinar about climate monitoring for land management applications in the Great Basin. Recent drought, change agents and the spectrum of greater management needs have highlighted the relative dearth of in situ weather and climate measurement stations in the Great Basin. Thus, interest has grown in supplementing or initiating atmospheric and hydrologic measurements. This presentation reviews the existing station networks in the context of management needs by providing examples of how climate observation gaps can be assessed, and by providing some guidelines for the placement of new or augmented stations....
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Emerging applications of ecosystem resilience and resistance concepts in sagebrush ecosystems allow managers to better predict and mitigate impacts of wildfire and invasive annual grasses. Soil temperature and moisture strongly influence the kind and amount of vegetation, and consequently, are closely tied to sagebrush ecosystem resilience and resistance (Chambers et al. 2014, 2016). Soil taxonomic temperature and moisture regimes can be used as indicators of resilience and resistance at landscape scales to depict environmental gradients in sagebrush ecosystems that range from cold/cool-moist sites to warm-dry sites. We aggregated soil survey spatial and tabular data to facilitate broad-scale analyses of resilience...
The exotic annual grass Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) dominates vast acreages of rangeland in the western USA, leading to increased fire frequency and ecosystem degradation that is often irreversible. Episodic regeneration failure (“die-off”) has been observed in cheatgrass monocultures and can have negative ecosystem consequences, but can also provide an opportunity for restoration of native species and ecological function within the imperiled sagebrush steppe ecosystem. Proximate causes of cheatgrass die-off are uncertain, although several taxa of fungal soil pathogens have been implicated. Die-off occurrence is stochastic and can occur in remote areas. Thus, developing remote sensing indicators that are repeatable...
The Northwestern Great Basin ecoregion is one of the most intact ecosystems in the west as well as a biological hotspot. However, altered fire regimes, invasive species, water scarcity, development and climate change threaten the integrity of this landscape. Several efforts are ongoing for individual species, specific threats or sub-geographies, and over 60 existing plans and assessments have been identified for the region. The Northwestern Basin and Range Landscape Conservation Project will pull the pieces together to create a holistic view of shared priorities on the landscape. In partnership with state and federal natural resource managers, tribes, and private landowners, this project will address landscape-scale...
The sagebrush steppe is a patchwork of species and subspecies occupying distinctenvironmental niches across the intermountain regions of western North America. These ecosystems facedegradation from disturbances and exotic weeds. Using sagebrush seed that is matched to its appropriateniche is a critical component to successful restoration, improving habitat for the threatened greater sage-grouse and other species. The need for restoration is greatest in basin habitats composed of two subspecies:diploid basin big sagebrush (A. tridentatasubsp.tridentata) and tetraploid Wyoming big sagebrush (subsp.wyomingensis). In this study we assess seed weights across five subspecies-cytotype groups of bigsagebrush and examine...
Invasions by exotic grasses, particularly annuals, rank among the most extensive and intensive ways that humans are contributing to the transformation of the earth’s surface. The problem is particularly notable with a suite of exotic grasses in the Bromus genus in the arid and semiarid regions that dominate the western United States, which extend from the dry basins near the Sierra and Cascade Ranges across the Intermountain Region and Rockies to about 105° longitude. This genus includes approximately 150 species that have a wide range of invasive and non-invasive tendencies in their home ranges and in North America. Bromus species that became invasive upon introduction to North America in the late 1800’s, such...
Wind erosion and aeolian transport processes are under studied compared to rainfall-induced erosion and sediment transport on burned landscapes. Post-fire wind erosion studies have predominantly focused on near-surface sediment transport and associated impacts such as on-site soil loss and site fertility. Downwind impacts, including air quality degradation and deposition of dust or contaminants, are also likely post-fire effects; however, quantitative field measurements of post-fire dust emissions are needed for assessment of these downwind risks. A wind erosion monitoring system was installed immediately following a desert sagebrush and grass wildfire in southeastern Idaho, USA to measure wind erosion from the burned...
The Nature’s Stage Climate Mapper allows users to explore the geoclimatic stability of HUC5 watersheds within the Pacific Northwest.Geoclimatic Stability, as defined here, is a measure of a natural system’s capacity to remain stable as the climate changes over time. This is based on two factors: * Climate Departure: a measure of how different the future climate is projected to be from the historical climate. * Climate Resilience: a measure of how resilient an area is expected to be to changes in climate (based on topoclimate diversity and landscape permeability).A watershed with lower levels of climate departure and higher levels of climate resilience is more likely to sustain current levels of native biodiversity...
Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) woodlands are expected to be sensitive to climate change, and have declined in parts of the West. Great Basin mountain ranges may be near the limits of aspen’s climatic threshold, in terms of temperature and aridity, and thus are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Birds associating with aspen are likely to undergo regional population fluctuations and changes in distribution as a result of changes in aspen availability or distribution. Thus, understanding the habitat relationships of avian communities in aspen and other montane cover types is important for tracking the impacts of future landscape change. The mountainous terrain of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in...
map background search result map search result map Dataset: Index of Relative Ecosystem Resilience and Resistance across Sage-Grouse Management Zones Dataset: Index of Relative Ecosystem Resilience and Resistance across Sage-Grouse Management Zones