Field technicians collect soil samples and monitor plants in an invasive grass dominated sagebrush steppe ecosystem in Colorado. The team measured carbon levels at two soil depths at undisturbed sites, sites that have been burned and invaded, areas that are unburned but invaded, and sites that were burned but not invaded.
FIREss: Fire, Invasives, and Rehabilitation of Shrub-Steppe Rangelands
Active
By Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
November 16, 2017
The USGS FIREss team produces basic and applied scientific information needed to manage semiarid landscapes for resistance and resilience to wildfire, exotic plant invasions, and drought. These stressors impact ecosystem productivity and pose costly risks to health, safety, and economic wellbeing in the vast rangelands, protected areas, and military installations of the Western United States. We partner with federal, state, tribal, and private land managers to identify the most cost-efficient and effective solutions to these threats, including monitoring and evaluating remedial treatment outcomes over millions of acres. Our science is also used to help inform more efficient regulations and show return on investments for management actions.
Our team of plant-soil specialists has expertise and ongoing projects on soil stabilization and health, control of exotic invasive plants, restoration of desirable native perennials, rehabilitation of severely disturbed lands, design and assessment of fuels treatments, vegetation mapping and remote sensing techniques, wildfire risk modeling, monitoring and treatment evaluation, and optimizing livestock grazing. A unique feature of the FIREss team is their participation in management with the agencies we support, including all type of pre- and post-fire treatments and fire suppression (including red card certification for incident support).
Our geographic focus is non-forested uplands, which is the most extensive land type in the western USA and in the US Departments of Interior and Defense. The science has been used to improve the efficiency of regulations and can empower regulatory reform. The return on investment is visible satellite imagery as greener and more productive rangelands and wildlife habitat.
FIREss has provided many technical trainings and workshops, in addition to consultations to managers facing specific problems with wildfire, invasions, and rehabilitation. The resulting relationships have led to formation of a number of larger science-management partnerships, such as the USGS-DoD FIREss team. Much of the land-based training and testing needed by the Department of Defense occurs in remote shrub-steppe. USGS-DoD FIREss provides tactical monitoring, fire-risk assessments, and timely prescriptions for fuels treatments to moderate invasion of wildfire-promoting invasive plants and thereby enable continuity and efficiency of military operations.
Post-Fire Restoration
Post-Fire Restoration
Invasives
Invasives
Meet the Team
Principal Investigator
Matt Germino: Supervisory Research Ecologist
Technical theme leads
Brynne Lazarus: Plant-Soil Scientist, Analytical Lab Manager, and Supervisory Support
Research, technique development, and extension on herbicide and bioherbicide applications, restoration and rehabilitation, and local-scale experimentation
Cara Applestein: Large-Landscape Data Integration Scientist
Analytical technique development and application for large and complex datasets, including machine learning and artificial intelligence, national-scale evaluation of effectiveness of post-fire management, analyses to make satellite data suited for vegetation mapping, digital tools to increase cost-efficiency and reliability of landscape monitoring and evaluation.
Bill Davidson: Plant, Seed, and Soil Rehabilitation Specialist
Post-fire grazing management; micrometeorological instrumentation, root-soil microbial interactions, development and testing of materials for native plant restoration. Digital solutions and management for large-scale monitoring of burned areas with a primary focus on areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
Samuel "Jake" Price: Rangeland and Fire Risk Modeling
Monitoring and supercomputer modeling of wildfire behavior, spread, and risks for large landscapes. Assessment of fuel breaks, science support of prioritization of fuel treatments to protect US National Parks and military areas management by the US Department of Defense.
Chad Kluender: Quantitative Monitoring and Data Translation
Development of cost-effective and reliable methods and strategies for monitoring and analysis of invasive-grass and fire threats and treatment effectiveness, in management units of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Tribal areas as well as all other major land agencies.
Media
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Technicians
Austin Davis
Krystal Busby
Fisher Corbin
Ripley Orr
Chadwick Dehfehr
Kayleigh Dodson (Volunteer, Boise State University graduate student)
Emma Archey (Volunteer)
Kyle Crichton (Volunteer)
Liam Getzloff (Volunteer)
Science Themes of the FRESC Plant-Soil-Environment Laboratory are highlighted below.
The Impact of Climate-Driven Phenological Shifts on Cheatgrass in Western North America
Climate change-induced warming can alter plant phenology and disrupt ecosystems like the sagebrush steppe in western North America. The invasive annual grass cheatgrass can thrive under these altered conditions, exacerbating wildfires and threatening wildlife habitat, carbon storage, and other important ecosystem services. We are studying how different densities of cheatgrass respond to increased...
The Effect of Pre-Emergent Herbicides on Soil in The Sagebrush Steppe
We are studying how herbicides sprayed onto soil to prevent the establishment of exotic annual grasses such as cheatgrass may impact the health, growth resources and microbiota of soils in sagebrush-steppe, where herbicide use is an important and common tool. Our findings will help make herbicide applications more successful.
Longevity of Herbicides Targeting Exotic Annual Grasses in Sagebrush-Steppe Soils
Pre-emergent herbicides applied to soil are a primary tool for reducing exotic annual grasses, such as cheatgrass, in sagebrush steppe rangelands. Effective herbicide application can allow existing perennials to grow and spread to outcompete cheatgrass, preventing reinvasion, but most perennials are slow-growing and require more years of relief from annual-grass competition than standard...
Vegetation and Fuel Responses to Linear Fuel-Break Treatments in and around Burned Sagebrush Steppe
After the Soda Wildfire burned nearly 280,000 acres of public and private land in southwest Idaho, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Emergency and Rehabilitation and Stabilization program (ESR) applied herbicide and seeding treatments to prevent exotic annual grass invasion and restore native vegetation. To reduce the threat of future wildfire, the BLM also constructed a network of linear...
Grazing Effects on the Annual Grass Fire-Cycle after Post Fire Management
In order to break the annual grass fire-cycle in the sagebrush steppe, land managers use pre-emergent herbicides to reduce annual grass populations and seeding to increase fire-tolerant perennials. These tools must be applied to the same soils in ways that are not counterproductive, and their application must therefore be staggered in time, which we refer to as layering. Livestock grazing can also...
Systematic Review and Analysis of Seeding and Herbicide Treatment in the Sagebrush Steppe
Seeding and herbicide treatments are a key aspect of the strategy used to break the annual grass-fire cycle in sagebrush steppe. However, past studies report considerable variability in the effectiveness of seeding and herbicide treatments. To generate a more consistent interpretation of post-fire herbicide and seeding effects, we are compiling, reviewing, and synthesizing findings from past...
Weed-Suppressive Bacteria – Testing a Control Measure for Invasive Grasses in the West
Recent popular news has implied that Weed-Suppressive Bacteria (WSB) holds promise for cheatgrass control, yet a lack of peer-reviewed research exists to support this claim. USGS researchers stepped up to the challenge of objectively and rigorously evaluating the effectiveness of WSB for controlling exotic annual grasses, such as Cheatgrass and Medusahead, while also examining its impact on native...
Cheatgrass and Medusahead
Invasive annual grasses, such as cheatgrass ( Bromus tectorum) and medusahead ( Taeniatherum caput-medusae), are one of the most significant stressors to rangeland ecosystems in the western U.S. Their expansion and dominance across this area are the most damaging ecosystem agents on this iconic landscape.
Wildfire Impacts, and Post-Fire Rehabilitation and Restoration
Land use and unintentional (e.g., wildfire) disturbances are increasingly dominant factors affecting land-use planning and management of semiarid landscapes, particularly in sagebrush steppe rangelands. In the last 10-20 years, wildfires are occurring more frequently and increasingly in very large burn patches.
Plant Responses to Temperature and Water Limitation
Weather and climate impacts on dominant native perennials must be understood in order to efficiently manage our western landscapes. We use an ecophysiological approach, linking to population, community, and landscape ecology, to understand the impacts and responses of plants on or to their environment.
Integrating Science and Adaptive Land Management
Widespread habitat deterioration due to fire and invasive species in the Great Basin have created a need for coordination across land agencies and between science and management activities in the Great Basin.
Collecting soil samples in a cheatgrass-invaded landscape
Field technicians collect soil samples and monitor plants in an invasive grass dominated sagebrush steppe ecosystem in Colorado. The team measured carbon levels at two soil depths at undisturbed sites, sites that have been burned and invaded, areas that are unburned but invaded, and sites that were burned but not invaded.
Soil sampling in Colorado
A USGS field crew working on soil sampling, plant community monitoring, and soil water infiltration in the Colorado 'front range.'
A USGS field crew working on soil sampling, plant community monitoring, and soil water infiltration in the Colorado 'front range.'
FIREss team planting rabbitbrush
In collaboration with USFS-RMRS researchers, the FIREss team planted Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) collected from across the West of different populations.
In collaboration with USFS-RMRS researchers, the FIREss team planted Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) collected from across the West of different populations.
The news stories below are short summaries of FIREss Team publications.
New Invasive Annual Grass Book Addresses Critical Questions for the Western U.S.
BOISE, Idaho — Bromus species – such as cheatgrass – are exotic annual grasses that have become the dominant annual grasses in the western hemisphere. Their spread and impacts across the western U.S. continue despite the many attempts by land managers to control these species.
The USGS FIREss team produces basic and applied scientific information needed to manage semiarid landscapes for resistance and resilience to wildfire, exotic plant invasions, and drought. These stressors impact ecosystem productivity and pose costly risks to health, safety, and economic wellbeing in the vast rangelands, protected areas, and military installations of the Western United States. We partner with federal, state, tribal, and private land managers to identify the most cost-efficient and effective solutions to these threats, including monitoring and evaluating remedial treatment outcomes over millions of acres. Our science is also used to help inform more efficient regulations and show return on investments for management actions.
Our team of plant-soil specialists has expertise and ongoing projects on soil stabilization and health, control of exotic invasive plants, restoration of desirable native perennials, rehabilitation of severely disturbed lands, design and assessment of fuels treatments, vegetation mapping and remote sensing techniques, wildfire risk modeling, monitoring and treatment evaluation, and optimizing livestock grazing. A unique feature of the FIREss team is their participation in management with the agencies we support, including all type of pre- and post-fire treatments and fire suppression (including red card certification for incident support).
Our geographic focus is non-forested uplands, which is the most extensive land type in the western USA and in the US Departments of Interior and Defense. The science has been used to improve the efficiency of regulations and can empower regulatory reform. The return on investment is visible satellite imagery as greener and more productive rangelands and wildlife habitat.
FIREss has provided many technical trainings and workshops, in addition to consultations to managers facing specific problems with wildfire, invasions, and rehabilitation. The resulting relationships have led to formation of a number of larger science-management partnerships, such as the USGS-DoD FIREss team. Much of the land-based training and testing needed by the Department of Defense occurs in remote shrub-steppe. USGS-DoD FIREss provides tactical monitoring, fire-risk assessments, and timely prescriptions for fuels treatments to moderate invasion of wildfire-promoting invasive plants and thereby enable continuity and efficiency of military operations.
Post-Fire Restoration
Post-Fire Restoration
Invasives
Invasives
Meet the Team
Principal Investigator
Matt Germino: Supervisory Research Ecologist
Technical theme leads
Brynne Lazarus: Plant-Soil Scientist, Analytical Lab Manager, and Supervisory Support
Research, technique development, and extension on herbicide and bioherbicide applications, restoration and rehabilitation, and local-scale experimentation
Cara Applestein: Large-Landscape Data Integration Scientist
Analytical technique development and application for large and complex datasets, including machine learning and artificial intelligence, national-scale evaluation of effectiveness of post-fire management, analyses to make satellite data suited for vegetation mapping, digital tools to increase cost-efficiency and reliability of landscape monitoring and evaluation.
Bill Davidson: Plant, Seed, and Soil Rehabilitation Specialist
Post-fire grazing management; micrometeorological instrumentation, root-soil microbial interactions, development and testing of materials for native plant restoration. Digital solutions and management for large-scale monitoring of burned areas with a primary focus on areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
Samuel "Jake" Price: Rangeland and Fire Risk Modeling
Monitoring and supercomputer modeling of wildfire behavior, spread, and risks for large landscapes. Assessment of fuel breaks, science support of prioritization of fuel treatments to protect US National Parks and military areas management by the US Department of Defense.
Chad Kluender: Quantitative Monitoring and Data Translation
Development of cost-effective and reliable methods and strategies for monitoring and analysis of invasive-grass and fire threats and treatment effectiveness, in management units of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Tribal areas as well as all other major land agencies.
Media
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Technicians
Austin Davis
Krystal Busby
Fisher Corbin
Ripley Orr
Chadwick Dehfehr
Kayleigh Dodson (Volunteer, Boise State University graduate student)
Emma Archey (Volunteer)
Kyle Crichton (Volunteer)
Liam Getzloff (Volunteer)
Science Themes of the FRESC Plant-Soil-Environment Laboratory are highlighted below.
The Impact of Climate-Driven Phenological Shifts on Cheatgrass in Western North America
Climate change-induced warming can alter plant phenology and disrupt ecosystems like the sagebrush steppe in western North America. The invasive annual grass cheatgrass can thrive under these altered conditions, exacerbating wildfires and threatening wildlife habitat, carbon storage, and other important ecosystem services. We are studying how different densities of cheatgrass respond to increased...
The Effect of Pre-Emergent Herbicides on Soil in The Sagebrush Steppe
We are studying how herbicides sprayed onto soil to prevent the establishment of exotic annual grasses such as cheatgrass may impact the health, growth resources and microbiota of soils in sagebrush-steppe, where herbicide use is an important and common tool. Our findings will help make herbicide applications more successful.
Longevity of Herbicides Targeting Exotic Annual Grasses in Sagebrush-Steppe Soils
Pre-emergent herbicides applied to soil are a primary tool for reducing exotic annual grasses, such as cheatgrass, in sagebrush steppe rangelands. Effective herbicide application can allow existing perennials to grow and spread to outcompete cheatgrass, preventing reinvasion, but most perennials are slow-growing and require more years of relief from annual-grass competition than standard...
Vegetation and Fuel Responses to Linear Fuel-Break Treatments in and around Burned Sagebrush Steppe
After the Soda Wildfire burned nearly 280,000 acres of public and private land in southwest Idaho, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Emergency and Rehabilitation and Stabilization program (ESR) applied herbicide and seeding treatments to prevent exotic annual grass invasion and restore native vegetation. To reduce the threat of future wildfire, the BLM also constructed a network of linear...
Grazing Effects on the Annual Grass Fire-Cycle after Post Fire Management
In order to break the annual grass fire-cycle in the sagebrush steppe, land managers use pre-emergent herbicides to reduce annual grass populations and seeding to increase fire-tolerant perennials. These tools must be applied to the same soils in ways that are not counterproductive, and their application must therefore be staggered in time, which we refer to as layering. Livestock grazing can also...
Systematic Review and Analysis of Seeding and Herbicide Treatment in the Sagebrush Steppe
Seeding and herbicide treatments are a key aspect of the strategy used to break the annual grass-fire cycle in sagebrush steppe. However, past studies report considerable variability in the effectiveness of seeding and herbicide treatments. To generate a more consistent interpretation of post-fire herbicide and seeding effects, we are compiling, reviewing, and synthesizing findings from past...
Weed-Suppressive Bacteria – Testing a Control Measure for Invasive Grasses in the West
Recent popular news has implied that Weed-Suppressive Bacteria (WSB) holds promise for cheatgrass control, yet a lack of peer-reviewed research exists to support this claim. USGS researchers stepped up to the challenge of objectively and rigorously evaluating the effectiveness of WSB for controlling exotic annual grasses, such as Cheatgrass and Medusahead, while also examining its impact on native...
Cheatgrass and Medusahead
Invasive annual grasses, such as cheatgrass ( Bromus tectorum) and medusahead ( Taeniatherum caput-medusae), are one of the most significant stressors to rangeland ecosystems in the western U.S. Their expansion and dominance across this area are the most damaging ecosystem agents on this iconic landscape.
Wildfire Impacts, and Post-Fire Rehabilitation and Restoration
Land use and unintentional (e.g., wildfire) disturbances are increasingly dominant factors affecting land-use planning and management of semiarid landscapes, particularly in sagebrush steppe rangelands. In the last 10-20 years, wildfires are occurring more frequently and increasingly in very large burn patches.
Plant Responses to Temperature and Water Limitation
Weather and climate impacts on dominant native perennials must be understood in order to efficiently manage our western landscapes. We use an ecophysiological approach, linking to population, community, and landscape ecology, to understand the impacts and responses of plants on or to their environment.
Integrating Science and Adaptive Land Management
Widespread habitat deterioration due to fire and invasive species in the Great Basin have created a need for coordination across land agencies and between science and management activities in the Great Basin.
Collecting soil samples in a cheatgrass-invaded landscape
Field technicians collect soil samples and monitor plants in an invasive grass dominated sagebrush steppe ecosystem in Colorado. The team measured carbon levels at two soil depths at undisturbed sites, sites that have been burned and invaded, areas that are unburned but invaded, and sites that were burned but not invaded.
Field technicians collect soil samples and monitor plants in an invasive grass dominated sagebrush steppe ecosystem in Colorado. The team measured carbon levels at two soil depths at undisturbed sites, sites that have been burned and invaded, areas that are unburned but invaded, and sites that were burned but not invaded.
Soil sampling in Colorado
A USGS field crew working on soil sampling, plant community monitoring, and soil water infiltration in the Colorado 'front range.'
A USGS field crew working on soil sampling, plant community monitoring, and soil water infiltration in the Colorado 'front range.'
FIREss team planting rabbitbrush
In collaboration with USFS-RMRS researchers, the FIREss team planted Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) collected from across the West of different populations.
In collaboration with USFS-RMRS researchers, the FIREss team planted Rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) collected from across the West of different populations.
The news stories below are short summaries of FIREss Team publications.
New Invasive Annual Grass Book Addresses Critical Questions for the Western U.S.
BOISE, Idaho — Bromus species – such as cheatgrass – are exotic annual grasses that have become the dominant annual grasses in the western hemisphere. Their spread and impacts across the western U.S. continue despite the many attempts by land managers to control these species.