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Scientists found that current rates of conservation, measured in hectares of sagebrush landscapes treated annually, are markedly lower than rates of core sagebrush area loss. Conservation efforts will need to increase by more than 10 times to halt sagebrush declines due to threats like fire and annual grass invasion.

Sagebrush ecosystems are among the most imperiled ecosystems in the United States. Invasive annual grasses, loss of native vegetation, and human modification have led to declines of hundreds of plant and animal species. The increasing recognition of the scale of threats and the pace of ecosystem degradation has led to a shift towards threats-based ecosystem management. Researchers quantified the acres of conservation implementation relative to the rate of loss from specific threats to the sagebrush biome and assessed how much additional action may be needed to stop core sagebrush area loss. Core sagebrush areas are patches on intact sagebrush ecosystem that have been prioritized for conservation. The authors found that current rates of conservation are lower than rates of core sagebrush area loss, and that most actions occurred outside of core sagebrush areas. Conservation efforts may need to increase by at least 10 times annually to halt declines. Better spatial targeting, stakeholder cooperation, and strategic addition of resources could improve the success of conservation actions. This publication is included in a special issue of Rangeland Ecology & Management on the Sagebrush Conservation Design and a new website released by Working Lands for Wildlife. 

 

Mozelewski, T.G., Freeman, P.T., Kumar, A.V., Naugle, D.E., Olimpi, E.M., Morford, S.L., Jeffries, M.I., Pilliod, D.S., Littlefield, C.E., McCord, S.E., Wiechman, L.A., Kachergis, E.J., and Doherty, K.E., 2024, Closing the conservation gap in the sagebrush biome- Spatial targeting and coordination are needed for conservation to keep pace with sagebrush losses: Rangeland Ecology & Management, v. 97, p. 12-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.016

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