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2020 Annual Report

USGS Sage-grouse and Sagebrush Ecosystem Research

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Range-wide greater sage-grouse hierarchical monitoring framework

Implications for defining population boundaries, trend estimation, and a targeted annual warning system

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Greater Sage-grouse Annotated Bibliography

New report provides easy access to sage-grouse science developed since January 2015

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Sagebrush Conservation Strategy

Challenges to Sagebrush Conservation

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U.S. Geological Survey wildland fire science strategic plan, 2021–26

Defines core USGS fire science capabilities for understanding fire-related and fire-responsive earth system processes and patterns

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Sage-grouse & Sagebrush Ecosystem

USGS has been a leader in sagebrush ecosystem research and continues to meet the priority science needs of management agencies. We bring a diversity of expertise and capabilities to address a wide variety of science needs at multiple spatial scales and are committed to providing high quality science to our management partners.

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Greater Sage-grouse Annotated Bibliography

A male sage-grouse struts his stuff on his native sage steppe.

Synthesizes the scientific literature published since records of decision were completed for 2015 BLM/USDA Forest Service land use plan amendments for greater sage-grouse, and provides potential management implications of the science.

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Meet our lead scientists and team members

Wildlife Biologist Pete Coates on Threats to Greater Sage-grouse

Information about USGS principal investigators (PIs) working on sage-grouse or sagebrush ecosystem issues is available here.

Meet the PIs

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two scientists working in a sagebrush experimental plot

We have put together a list of related resources and links for the sage-grouse and sagebrush ecosystem.

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News

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When Unchecked, Free-Roaming Horse Populations Threaten Greater Sage-Grouse

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New Research Highlights Decline of Greater Sage-Grouse in the American West, Provides Roadmap to Aid Conservation

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New Report Highlights Declining Sagebrush Ecosystem, Provides Foundation for Next Generation of Conservation and Management

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Publications

Weather affects post‐fire recovery of sagebrush‐steppe communities and model transferability among sites

Altered climate, including weather extremes, can cause major shifts in vegetative recovery after disturbances. Predictive models that can identify the separate and combined temporal effects of disturbance and weather on plant communities and that are transferable among sites are needed to guide vulnerability assessments and management interventions. We asked how functional group abundance responde
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Ecosystems, Sage-grouse & Sagebrush Ecosystem, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center

A chemical and bio‐herbicide mixture increased exotic invaders, both targeted and non‐targeted, across a diversely invaded landscape after fire

QuestionsInvasive‐plant treatments often target a single or few species, but many landscapes are diversely invaded. Exotic annual grasses (EAGs) increase wildfires and degrade native perennial plant communities in cold‐desert rangelands, and herbicides are thus sprayed to inhibit EAG germination and establishment. We asked how EAG target and non‐target species responded to an herbicide mixture spr
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Ecosystems, Invasive Species Program, Sage-grouse & Sagebrush Ecosystem, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center

Sagebrush conservation strategy—Challenges to sagebrush conservation

The sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) biome, its wildlife, and the services and benefits it provides people and local communities are at risk. Development in the sagebrush biome, for many purposes, has resulted in multiple and often cumulative negative impacts. These impacts, ranging from simple habitat loss to complex, interactive changes in ecosystem function, continue to accelerate even as the need gr
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Ecosystems, Sage-grouse & Sagebrush Ecosystem, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center
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Science

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Five mule deer stare at the camera as they stand in a field of dry sagebrush

Contributions to the development of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Sagebrush Conservation Strategy

USGS scientists are contributing to the development of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Sagebrush Conservation Strategy, a strategy intended to provide guidance so that efforts to conserve the iconic greater sage-grouse can be expanded to the entire sagebrush biome to benefit the people and wildlife that depend on it.
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Ecosystems, Sage-grouse & Sagebrush Ecosystem, Fort Collins Science Center
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Contributions to the development of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Sagebrush Conservation Strategy

USGS scientists are contributing to the development of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Sagebrush Conservation Strategy, a strategy intended to provide guidance so that efforts to conserve the iconic greater sage-grouse can be expanded to the entire sagebrush biome to benefit the people and wildlife that depend on it.
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two scientists setting up an experiment in an area dominated by cheatgrass

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...
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Ecosystems, Sage-grouse & Sagebrush Ecosystem, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
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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...
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cheatgrass

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.
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Ecosystems, Invasive Species Program, Sage-grouse & Sagebrush Ecosystem, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
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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.
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