Biodiversity, Demography, and Habitat Use
Woodland sites are equipped with biodiversity stations, which have acoustic recording devices and camera traps to passively capture the activity of mammals and birds in all treatments. Understanding the impacts of treatments on wildlife will provide managers with much more confidence on how their treatments influence the biodiversity of the system.
Demography and Habitat Use of Song Birds
Songbirds are of keen interest because sage-obligate species are considered to be especially at risk of habitat loss and subsequent population declines given the rapid habitat changes now occurring in sagebrush steppe ecosystems. Species richness and diversity, and productivity of songbirds are being evaluated across a suit of species that breed in habitats along a woodland invasion gradient. A combination of point counts and acoustic recorders are being used across the SageSTEP woodland network to study species richness and density in relation to treatment, weather, and vegetation composition.
Species Richness and Treatment Impacts on Ants, Beetles, Spiders, and Butterflies
Arthropods in sagebrush steppe ecosystems serve as scavengers, predators, symbiotic partners of other invertebrates, predators and dispersers of seeds, and as prey for a wide array of vertebrates, including many sage-obligate birds. We are evaluating species composition and relative abundance and treatment impacts on ants, beetles, spiders, and butterflies. Since arthropod species differ markedly in the ecological roles they play, and these roles are generally well known for sagebrush species, we will be able to understand how management treatments alter the balance between roles over time.
Latest Resources on Wildlife
View article. Epigaeic (ground-active) spiders are dominant predators of arthropods and are important prey for vertebrates in sagebrush steppe systems. As part of the Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP), the response of epigaeic spiders to sagebrush steppe restoration treatments was evaluated. Spiders were pitfall trapped pre-treatment and for up to 7 years post-treatment at 20…
View article. We used structural equation modeling to develop and statistically test our conceptual model that the current bird assembly at a site is structured primarily by the previous bird community with additional drivers from current and surrounding habitat conditions as well as external regional bird dynamics. Treatment reduced woodland cover by >5% at 80…
Restoration of sagebrush ecosystems through removal of pinyon-juniper woodlands is in full swing across much of the Intermountain West—reclaiming sagebrush where pinyon juniper expansion has occurred due to lack of fire and more precipitation during past climatic cycles. This practice has measurable benefits including restoration of habitats and connectivity for greater sage-grouse and other sagebrush…