Posts Tagged ‘Resilience and Resistance’
Application of Ecological Site information to transformative changes on Great Basin sagebrush rangelands
View article. The utility of ecological site descriptions (ESD) in the management of rangelands hinges on their ability to characterize and predict plant community change, the associated ecological consequences, and ecosystem responsiveness to management. We demonstrate how enhancement of ESDs with key ecohydrologic information can aid predictions of ecosystem response and targeting of conservation practices…
Read MoreMeasuring resilience, resistance to aid in range restoration
View article. Two concepts that help scientists understand the vulnerability of the land are: resilience and resistance. Rating a place based on resilience and resistance gives managers information about how it will respond to disturbances such as wildfire and invasive grasses like cheatgrass as well as how effective management efforts are likely to be (such…
Read MorePretreatment tree dominance and conifer removal treatments affect plant succession in sagebrush communities
View article. We prescribed burned or cut juniper (Juniperus spp. L.) and pinyon (Pinus spp. L.) trees at 10 sites across the western United States. We measured vegetation cover and density on untreated and treated plots 3 and 6 yr after treatment across a gradient of pretreatment tree dominance as quantified by the tree dominance…
Read MoreReslience to stress and disturbance and resistance to Bromus tectorum L. invasion in cold desert shrublands of western North America
View article. Cold desert shrublands occur over strong environmental gradients and exhibit significant differences in resilience and resistance. They provide an excellent opportunity to increase our understanding of these concepts. Herein, we examine a series of linked questions about (a) ecosystem attributes that determine resilience and resistance along environmental gradients, (b) effects of disturbances like…
Read MoreConditions favoring Bromus tectorum dominance of endangered sagebrush steppe ecosystems
View article. 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…
Read MoreBurial increases seed longevity of two Artemisia tridentata (Asteraceae) subspecies
View article. Seed longevity and persistence in soil seed banks may be especially important for population persistence in ecosystems where opportunities for seedling establishment and disturbance are unpredictable. The fire regime, an important driver of population dynamics in sagebrush steppe ecosystems, has been altered by exotic annual grass invasion. Soil seed banks may play an…
Read MoreFire as a restoration tool: A decision framework for predicting the control or enhancement of plants using fire
View article. Wildfires change plant communities by reducing dominance of some species while enhancing the abundance of others. Detailed habitat-specific models have been developed to predict plant responses to fire, but these models generally ignore the breadth of fire regime characteristics that can influence plant survival such as the degree and duration of exposure to…
Read MoreTen-year ecological responses to fuel treatments within semiarid Wyoming big sagebrush ecosystems
View article. Sagebrush ecosystems of western North America are threatened by invasive annual grasses and wildfires that can remove fire-intolerant shrubs for decades. Fuel reduction treatments are used ostensibly to aid in fire suppression, conserve wildlife habitat, and restore historical fire regimes, but long-term ecological impacts of these treatments are not clear. In 2006, we…
Read MoreThe Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP): A test of state-and-transition theory
View report. The Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP) is a comprehensive, integrated, long-term study that evaluates the ecological effects of fire and fire surrogate treatments designed to reduce fuel and to restore sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) communities of the Great Basin and surrounding areas. SageSTEP has several features that make it ideal for testing hypotheses…
Read MoreRestoration handbook for sagebrush steppe ecosystems with emphasis on greater sage-grouse habitat – Part 2: Landscape level restoration decisions
View guide. We present a landscape restoration decision tool intended to assist decision makers in determining landscape objectives, to identify and prioritize landscape areas where sites for priority restoration projects might be located, and to aid in ultimately selecting restoration sites guided by criteria used to define the landscape objectives. The landscape restoration decision tool…
Read More