Long-Term Responses of Understory Communities to Conifer Removal in Sagebrush Ecosystems
Over the past century, fire suppression, livestock grazing, cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) invasion, and expansion of native conifers are hypothesized to be major factors driving the decline of sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) and the widespread ecosystems that they historically dominated.
The SageSTEP Project (http://www.sagestep.org/) is conducting two large-scale experiments that evaluate the effectiveness of different management approaches for promoting the long-term health of sagebrush steppe ecosystems in the US Interior West. Beth Newingham (USDA ARS), Stephanie Freud (USDA ARS), Jeanne Chambers (US Forest Service), Alexandra Urza (US Forest Service) and Hall Cushman (UNR) are collaborating on a project to synthesize the results from one of these experiments that focuses on the responses of understory vegetation to different types of management actions – prescribed fire and mechanical removal – commonly used to reduce woodland encroachment in sagebrush-dominated ecosystems. Our analyses are focusing on the community responses that have been observed throughout the first decade of this experiment across 10 sites in Nevada, California, Oregon and Utah.
Over the past century, fire suppression, livestock grazing, cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) invasion, and expansion of native conifers are hypothesized to be major factors driving the decline of sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) and the widespread ecosystems that they historically dominated.
The SageSTEP Project (http://www.sagestep.org/) is conducting two large-scale experiments that evaluate the effectiveness of different management approaches for promoting the long-term health of sagebrush steppe ecosystems in the US Interior West. Beth Newingham (USDA ARS), Stephanie Freud (USDA ARS), Jeanne Chambers (US Forest Service), Alexandra Urza (US Forest Service) and Hall Cushman (UNR) are collaborating on a project to synthesize the results from one of these experiments that focuses on the responses of understory vegetation to different types of management actions – prescribed fire and mechanical removal – commonly used to reduce woodland encroachment in sagebrush-dominated ecosystems. Our analyses are focusing on the community responses that have been observed throughout the first decade of this experiment across 10 sites in Nevada, California, Oregon and Utah.