David A Pyke
Biography
Education
Ph.D. Botany, 1983, Washington State University
M.S. Forest and Range Management, 1977, Washington State University
B.S. Range Management (Wildlife option), 1976, Washington State University
Specialty
Plant ecology, restoration ecology, monitoring and assessments of ecosystem status of rangelands (grassland, shrublands and savannas)
Research Interests
Population ecology of native and invasive plants in the Intermountain West. Monitoring protocols for ecosystem integrity on wild lands. Restoration ecology of native plants on disturbed and invaded lands.
Personal Interests
Skiing, Cycling, Baseball, Softball, Gardening, & Beer Brewing
Background
Former Assistant Center Director of FRESC 1996-1999
Science and Products
Yield responses of ruderal plants to sucrose in invasive-dominated sagebrush steppe of the northern Great Basin
Restoration of sagebrush-steppe plant communities dominated by the invasive ruderals Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) and Taeniatherum caput-medusae (medusahead) can be facilitated by adding carbon (C) to the soil, stimulating microbes to immobilize nitrogen (N) and limit inorganic N availability. Our objectives were to determine responses in (1)...
Brunson, Jessi; Pyke, David A.; Perakis, Steven S.Final Report for Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation Treatment Monitoring of the Keeney Pass, Cow Hollow, Double Mountain, and Farewell Bend Fires
A strategy for monitoring post-fire seedings in the sagebrush steppe of the Intermountain West was developed and used to monitor four example fires in the Vale, Oregon District of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). We began to develop a potential approach by (1) reviewing previous vegetation monitoring manuals produced by the Federal government...
Wirth, Troy A.; Pyke, David A.Investigating Seed Longevity of Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)
The Intermountain West is dominated by big sagebrush communities (Artemisia tridentata subspecies) that provide habitat and forage for wildlife, prevent erosion, and are economically important to recreation and livestock industries. The two most prominent subspecies of big sagebrush in this region are Wyoming big sagebrush (A. t. ssp. wyomingensis...
Wijayratne, Upekala C.; Pyke, David A.A Chronosequence Feasibility Assessment of Emergency Fire Rehabilitation Records within the Intermountain Western United States - Final Report to the Joint Fire Science Program - Project 08-S-08
Department of the Interior (DOI) bureaus have invested heavily (for example, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) spent more than $60 million in fiscal year 2007) in seeding vegetation for emergency stabilization and burned area rehabilitation of non-forested arid lands over the past 10 years. The primary objectives of these seedings commonly...
Knutson, Kevin C.; Pyke, David A.; Wirth, Troy A.; Pilliod, David S.; Brooks, Matthew L.; Chambers, Jeanne C.Fire rehabilitation effectiveness: a chronosequence approach for the Great Basin
Federal land management agencies have invested heavily in seeding vegetation for emergency stabilization and rehabilitation (ES&R) of non-forested lands. ES&R projects are implemented to reduce post-fire dominance of non-native annual grasses, minimize probability of recurrent fire, quickly recover lost habitat for sensitive species,...
Pyke, David A.; Pilliod, David S.; Chambers, Jeanne C.; Brooks, Matthew L.; Grace, JamesA spatial model to prioritize sagebrush landscapes in the intermountain west (U.S.A.) for restoration
The ecological integrity of Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems in the Intermountain West (U.S.A.) has been diminished by synergistic relationships among human activities, spread of invasive plants, and altered disturbance regimes. An aggressive effort to restore Sagebrush habitats is necessary if we are to stabilize or improve current habitat...
Meinke, C.W.; Knick, S.T.; Pyke, D.A.Interactions among livestock grazing, vegetation type, and fire behavior in the Murphy Wildland Fire Complex in Idaho and Nevada, July 2007
A series of wildland fires were ignited by lightning in sagebrush and grassland communities near the Idaho-Nevada border southwest of Twin Falls, Idaho in July 2007. The fires burned for over two weeks and encompassed more than 650,000 acres. A team of scientists, habitat specialists, and land managers was called together by Tom Dyer, Idaho BLM...
Launchbaugh, Karen; Brammer, Bob; Brooks, Matthew L.; Bunting, Stephen C.; Clark, Patrick; Davison, Jay; Fleming, Mark; Kay, Ron; Pellant, Mike; Pyke, David A.Defoliation effects on Bromus tectorum seed production: Implications for grazing
Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) is an invasive annual grass that creates near-homogenous stands in areas throughout the Intermountain sagebrush steppe and challenges successful native plant restoration in these areas. A clipping experiment carried out at two cheatgrass-dominated sites in eastern Oregon (Lincoln Bench and Succor Creek) evaluated...
Hempy-Mayer, K.; Pyke, D.A.Is Rangeland Health Relevant to Mongolia?
DOI: 10.2111/1551-501X(2008)30[25:IRHRTM]2.0.CO;2
Damdinsuren, Bolormaa; Herrick, J.E.; Pyke, David A.; Havstad, K.M.Western juniper and ponderosa pine ecotonal climate-growth relationships across landscape gradients in southern Oregon
Forecasts of climate change for the Pacific northwestern United States predict warmer temperatures, increased winter precipitation, and drier summers. Prediction of forest growth responses to these climate fluctuations requires identification of climatic variables limiting tree growth, particularly at limits of free species distributions. We...
Knutson, K.C.; Pyke, D.A.Biotic soil crusts in relation to topography, cheatgrass, and fire in the Columbia Basin, Washington
We studied lichen and bryophyte soil crust communities in a large public grazing allotment within a sagebrush steppe ecosystem in which the biotic soil crusts are largely intact. The allotment had been rested from grazing for 12 years, but experienced an extensive series of wildfires. In the 350, 4 ?? 0.5 m plots, stratified by topographic...
Ponzetti, Jeanne; McCune, B.; Pyke, David A.Monitoring post-fire vegetation rehabilitation projects: A common approach for non-forested ecosystems
Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation (ES&R) and Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) treatments are short-term, high-intensity treatments designed to mitigate the adverse effects of wildfire on public lands. The federal government expends significant resources implementing ES&R and BAER treatments after wildfires; however, recent...
Wirth, Troy A.; Pyke, David A.