Climate
SageSTEP maintains weather station at each sampling site. We collect data on amount and timing of precipitation, temperature, and soil moisture. With a 20+ year dataset, we track shifts in weather patterns, and tie climate variables to changes in vegetation, wildlife use, and wildfire risk. Understanding the differences in weather in different treatments helps us understand which treatments create buffering against future shifts in climate or extreme weather events.
Latest Resources on Climate
Watch video (12:49). Bruce Roundy gives background on his new paper in the SageSTEP special issue in Ecosphere: Long‐term effects of tree expansion and reduction on soil climate in a semiarid ecosystem
View article. Woody plant expansions are altering ecosystem structure and function, as well as fire regimes, around the globe. Tree-reduction treatments are widely implemented in expanding woodlands to reduce fuel loads, increase ecological resilience, and improve habitat, but few studies have measured treatment outcomes over long timescales or large geographic areas. The Sagebrush Treatment Evaluation…
View article. We sought to determine the effects of tree expansion, tree reduction treatments, and expansion phase at time of treatment over 12–13 yr post-treatment. Because the effects of tree reduction on vegetation can vary with the soil temperature/moisture regime, we also analyzed differences in soil climate variables between the mesic/aridic-xeric and frigid/xeric regime classifications…