Effects on Plants

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...

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.

Arid shrublands of western North America face growing threats from disturbances such as wildfire, drought, and invasive species. These threats are increasingly altering the sagebrush ( Artemisia species) biome and degrading habitat for species of conservation concern such as greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus). Effective management and restoration are needed to slow or reverse these...

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are a community of living organisms, like moss, lichen, and algae, covering soils in arid and semi-arid ecosystems, providing important ecological functions like carbon cycling and soil stabilization. Analyses show that biocrusts are negatively associated with the abundance of invasive annual grasses that are responsible for increasing fire across the Great Basin...

Climate change-induced warming can alter plant phenology and disrupt ecosystems like the sagebrush steppe in western North America. The invasive annual grass cheatgrass can thrive under these altered conditions, exacerbating wildfires and threatening wildlife habitat, carbon storage, and other important ecosystem services. We are studying how different densities of cheatgrass respond to increased...

This project analyzes on-the-ground plant monitoring data across sagebrush and rangeland ecosystems to examine how fire, climate, topography, and plant communities influence the success of invasive annual grasses after fires.

City of Rocks National Reserve and Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve are lands managed by the National Park Service that contain ecologically valuable stands of sagebrush and unique forest communities that are at risk due to wildfire and invasion by exotic annual grasses. We are working to determine the extent of invasion and to provide park managers with wildfire risk assessments...

Land managers require clear, forward-looking information about where and how vegetation treatments may make the greatest difference for drought resilience in sagebrush and woodland ecosystems. We are using soil moisture and vegetation data from SageSTEP-- a long-term ecological study on fuel treatments in the Great Basin-- to analyze soil moisture dynamics and vegetation responses after common...

We are investigating ecosystem transitions and thresholds in the sagebrush steppe, studying factors influencing the shift from native to invaded plant communities after disturbances like fire. Our research tests region-wide resistance and resilience models, focusing on real-world recovery patterns, pre-fire conditions, plant succession, and land management treatments.

We are using existing datasets that span broad spatial and temporal extents to model the efficacy of invasive annual grass treatments across the sagebrush biome and the influence of environmental factors on their success. The models we develop will be used to generate maps of predicted treatment efficacy across the biome, which will be integrated into the Land Treatment Exploration Tool for land...

USGS researchers are conducting a comprehensive study of wild horse and livestock records across the greater sage-grouse range to investigate impacts on vegetation and wildlife (specifically, sage-grouse and songbirds). Researchers will use these results to evaluate Appropriate Management Levels for wild horse and burros, and projections of vegetation productivity under changing conditions.