Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

An adaptive management framework to control invasive annual brome grasses in Northern Great Plains parks (ABAM)

Active
By Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center June 28, 2018

Invasion by annual brome grasses (cheatgrass and Japanese brome) and other exotic annual grasses into National Park Service units (parks) in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) impacts park ecological and historical landscape integrity. The Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) decision support tool (DST) was built to support vegetation management decision making, particularly regarding these invasive annual grasses, of seven NGP parks. The ABAM DST is based on scientific literature and 20 years of vegetation monitoring in the seven ABAM parks. In each year of an adaptive management cycle, the DST is updated with recent monitoring data, then used to quantify the state of the vegetation in each park management unit, compare the predicted outcomes of 10 different management actions for each of those units, and determine the optimal management action for the next year according to park managers’ relative acceptance of different vegetation states. Implementation of the ABAM framework and use of the DST in that framework began in 2021. USGS continues to work with NPS in refining the ABAM DST and exploring its implications for long-term vegetation management in NGP parks.

Adaptive management framework and decision support tool for invasive annual bromes in seven Northern Great Plains National Park Service units

National Park Service (NPS) units in the northern Great Plains (NGP) were established to preserve and interpret the history of the United States, protect and showcase unusual geology and paleontology, and provide a home for vanishing large wildlife. A unifying feature among these national parks, monuments, and historic sites is northern mixed-grass prairie, which not only provides background scene
Authors
Amy Symstad, Heather Baldwin, Max Post van der Burg
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

A new decision support tool for collaborative adaptive vegetation management in northern Great Plains national parks

National Park Service (NPS) units in the northern Great Plains (NGP) were established to preserve and interpret the history of America, protect and showcase unusual geology and paleontology, and provide a home for vanishing large wildlife. A unifying feature among these national parks, monuments, and historic sites is mixed-grass prairie, which not only provides background scenery but is the very
Authors
Isabel W. Ashton, Amy Symstad, Heather Baldwin, Max Post van der Burg, Steven Bekedam, Erin Borgman, Milton Haar, Terri Hogan, Stephanie Rockwood, Daniel J Swanson, Carmen Thomson, Cody Wienk
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Invasion by annual brome grasses (cheatgrass and Japanese brome) and other exotic annual grasses into National Park Service units (parks) in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) impacts park ecological and historical landscape integrity. The Annual Brome Adaptive Management (ABAM) decision support tool (DST) was built to support vegetation management decision making, particularly regarding these invasive annual grasses, of seven NGP parks. The ABAM DST is based on scientific literature and 20 years of vegetation monitoring in the seven ABAM parks. In each year of an adaptive management cycle, the DST is updated with recent monitoring data, then used to quantify the state of the vegetation in each park management unit, compare the predicted outcomes of 10 different management actions for each of those units, and determine the optimal management action for the next year according to park managers’ relative acceptance of different vegetation states. Implementation of the ABAM framework and use of the DST in that framework began in 2021. USGS continues to work with NPS in refining the ABAM DST and exploring its implications for long-term vegetation management in NGP parks.

Adaptive management framework and decision support tool for invasive annual bromes in seven Northern Great Plains National Park Service units

National Park Service (NPS) units in the northern Great Plains (NGP) were established to preserve and interpret the history of the United States, protect and showcase unusual geology and paleontology, and provide a home for vanishing large wildlife. A unifying feature among these national parks, monuments, and historic sites is northern mixed-grass prairie, which not only provides background scene
Authors
Amy Symstad, Heather Baldwin, Max Post van der Burg
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

A new decision support tool for collaborative adaptive vegetation management in northern Great Plains national parks

National Park Service (NPS) units in the northern Great Plains (NGP) were established to preserve and interpret the history of America, protect and showcase unusual geology and paleontology, and provide a home for vanishing large wildlife. A unifying feature among these national parks, monuments, and historic sites is mixed-grass prairie, which not only provides background scenery but is the very
Authors
Isabel W. Ashton, Amy Symstad, Heather Baldwin, Max Post van der Burg, Steven Bekedam, Erin Borgman, Milton Haar, Terri Hogan, Stephanie Rockwood, Daniel J Swanson, Carmen Thomson, Cody Wienk
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Was this page helpful?