Habitat Management

The CED Sagebrush Module, first released in 2014, captures any conservation effort, enhancement, restoration, plan, or action related to the sagebrush landscape or activities that benefit sagebrush-dependent species. The CED was originally focused only on greater sage-grouse and thus, most of the records currently in our database are related to this species, but, starting in 2019, we expanded our...

The Greater Sage-grouse Population Monitoring Framework fills a prominent information gap to help inform current assessments of sage-grouse population trends at nested spatial and temporal scales. It is centered on four objectives: (1) create a standardized database of lek counts; (2) develop spatial population structures by clustering leks; (3) estimate spatial trends at different temporal...

The Greater Sage-grouse Population Monitoring Framework fills a prominent information gap to aid current assessments of sage-grouse population trends across spatial and temporal scales. It centers on four objectives: 1) create a standardized database of lek counts; 2) cluster leks to develop spatial population structures; 3) estimate spatial trends across temporal extents; and 4) develop a system...

The Greater Sage-grouse Population Monitoring Framework fills a prominent information gap to aid current assessments of sage-grouse population trends across spatial and temporal scales. It centers on four objectives: 1) create a standardized database of lek counts; 2) cluster leks to develop spatial population structures; 3) estimate spatial trends across temporal extents; and 4) develop a system...

To support management decisions, western state wildlife agencies identified the need for a range-wide database that tracks annual counts of greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) at leks (breeding sites), recorded since the early 1950s. Researchers at Colorado State University (CSU) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) worked with state wildlife agencies to 1) construct this...

Federal agencies manage wildland fire in many ways, including broad-scale fire management planning and site-specific fire and fuels management actions. Federal policy requires agencies to use science in fire management planning and environmental effects analyses. However, fire managers have limited time to compile and synthesize science. The USGS is collaborating with fire management staff across...

USGS researchers are using remote-sensing and other broadscale datasets to study and predict recovery of sagebrush across the sage-grouse range, assessing influence of disturbance, restoration treatments, soil moisture, and other ecological conditions on trends in sagebrush cover. The results will be used to inform conservation prioritization models, economic analyses, projections of future...

Land managers face challenges in the future as heat-related aridification alters the abundance, distribution, and interactions of plant species. These challenges will be daunting in the southwestern US, which is experiencing increased temperatures and prolonged droughts, resulting in reduced soil moisture in an already water-limited environment.

Public lands provide important habitat for many rare plants. However, public lands often need to accommodate many other uses, including traditional and renewable energy development, in addition to conservation. We are working with the Bureau of Land Management to coproduce ensemble habitat suitability models that can inform agency planning and permitting decisions that may impact rare plants.

USGS is identifying, testing, and verifying rapid methods for rangeland assessment and restoration monitoring. Our methods complement existing monitoring frameworks, providing land management agencies with timely information that can be used to determine if restoration investments are successful, and why. Standardization, validation, repeatability, data management, and training are at the core of...

In partnership with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and other partners, scientists from USGS Fort Collins Science Center are working to create a suite of prioritization scenarios that will inform adaptive management for Gunnison sage-grouse.

Sagebrush ecosystems represent one of the most imperiled systems in North America and face continued and widespread degradation due to multiple factors including invasive species and increased human development. Effective sagebrush management must consider how to best conserve and restore habitats to stem the decline of species that rely on them, especially given limited conservation resources. To...