Current linear fuel breaks in the sagebrush biome of the western United States (2020) attributed with relevant environmental variables
December 23, 2024
Unprecedented wildfire frequency fueled by invasive annual grasses threatens sagebrush habitats. To suppress fire and conserve sagebrush, land management agencies have installed ~10,000 km of fuel breaks across the sagebrush ecosystem. The ecological risks and benefits of creating fuel breaks for wildfire suppression are unquantified but must be balanced to avoid accelerating sagebrush loss, annual grass invasion, and habitat degradation. To begin to evaluate ecological trade-offs, we characterized the contexts in which known fuel breaks exist. Weise et al. (2024) compiled the spatial footprints of fuel breaks across the western United States from the land treatment digital library (LTDL; Pilliod and Welty 2013), vegetation treatment areas (VTRT; Bureau of Land Management), and national fire plan operations and reporting system (NFPORS; Bureau of Land Management). For further description see Weise et al. 2024. We modified Weise's database and identified a total of 4,880 linear fuel break segments to which we appended additional environmental attributes that characterize linear fuel break placement on the landscape. This dataset considers physical characteristics of the spatial footprint of only linear fuel breaks and does not take into account any maintenance activities. Spatial duplicates have been removed but otherwise overlapping fuel breaks are retained.
Reference:
Weise, C.L., Coates, P.S., Ricca, M.A., Crist, M.R., Welty, J.L., Pilliod, D.S., Shinneman, D.J., Aldridge, C.L., Heinrichs, J.A., and Chenaille, M.P., 2024, Fuel break treatments in the sagebrush biome of the western United States, 1953 - 2018: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9B9LB34.
Citation Information
Publication Year | 2024 |
---|---|
Title | Current linear fuel breaks in the sagebrush biome of the western United States (2020) attributed with relevant environmental variables |
DOI | 10.5066/P13MPSL8 |
Authors | Morgan D Roche, Saher D. Joanne, Erin K Buchholtz, Michelle Crist, Douglas Shinneman, Cameron Aldridge, Brianne E Brussee, Peter S Coates, Cali L Roth, Julie A Heinrichs |
Product Type | Data Release |
Record Source | USGS Asset Identifier Service (AIS) |
USGS Organization | Fort Collins Science Center |
Rights | This work is marked with CC0 1.0 Universal |
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Ecological trade-offs associated with fuel breaks in the sagebrush ecosystem
BackgroundUnprecedented wildfire frequency, fueled by invasive annual grasses, threatens sagebrush ecosystems. To suppress wildfire and conserve sagebrush, land management agencies have installed fuel breaks across the sagebrush biome. However, despite the potential reduction in wildfire, fuel breaks may have ecological costs. Determining an acceptable balance between risks and benefits...
Authors
Morgan Dake Roche, D. Joanne Saher, Erin K. Buchholtz, Michele R. Crist, Douglas J. Shinneman, Cameron L. Aldridge, Brianne E. Brussee, Peter S. Coates, Cali L. Weise, Julie A. Heinrichs
Douglas J Shinneman
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Cameron L Aldridge, PhD
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Peter Coates, PhD
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Related
Ecological trade-offs associated with fuel breaks in the sagebrush ecosystem
BackgroundUnprecedented wildfire frequency, fueled by invasive annual grasses, threatens sagebrush ecosystems. To suppress wildfire and conserve sagebrush, land management agencies have installed fuel breaks across the sagebrush biome. However, despite the potential reduction in wildfire, fuel breaks may have ecological costs. Determining an acceptable balance between risks and benefits...
Authors
Morgan Dake Roche, D. Joanne Saher, Erin K. Buchholtz, Michele R. Crist, Douglas J. Shinneman, Cameron L. Aldridge, Brianne E. Brussee, Peter S. Coates, Cali L. Weise, Julie A. Heinrichs
Douglas J Shinneman
Supervisory Research Fire Ecologist
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Cameron L Aldridge, PhD
Branch Chief / Supervisory Research Ecologist
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Peter Coates, PhD
Supervisory Research Wildlife Biologist
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Morgan D Roche, PhD
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