Planting a common garden study

The USGS Fire, Invasives, Restoration, and Ecology in Sagebrush Steppe (FIREss Team) plants a common garden of rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) near Boise, Idaho in collaboration with USFS. The FIREss team has grown to 20 young plant scientists from diverse backgrounds who have made substantive contributions to the BIL-ER efforts to increase native plants in the sagebrush steppe, with a focus on breaking the annual grass-fire cycle via adaptive restoration with federal, Tribal, and other partners. Research efforts include evaluating seed sources and planting methods, biology and control of exotic annual grasses and other invaders, assessing metrics for restoration success and monitoring techniques, and modeling fire risk. To date, the FIREss team has seeded or planted over 1,000 acres and thousands of plots on megafire restoration projects, in protected areas, or experimental trials such as in the photos have been established, evaluated, and communicated in dozens of scientific publications and used to guide land management. Credit: Matt Germino, USGS.