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Bailey EC, Thacker E, Monaco TA, Veblen KE. Transplanted sagebrush "wildlings" exhibit higher survival than greenhouse-grown tubelings yet both recruit new plants. BMC Ecol Evol 2024; 24:50. [PMID: 38649814 PMCID: PMC11034100 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-024-02236-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Land uses such as crop production, livestock grazing, mining, and urban development have contributed to degradation of drylands worldwide. Loss of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) on disturbed drylands across the western U.S. has prompted massive efforts to re-establish this foundational species. There has been growing interest in avoiding the severe limitations experienced by plants at the seed and seedling stages by instead establishing plants from containerized greenhouse seedlings ("tubelings"). In some settings, a potential alternative approach is to transplant larger locally-collected plants ("wildlings"). We compared the establishment of mountain big sagebrush (A. tridentata ssp. vaseyana) from tubelings vs. wildlings in southeastern Idaho. A mix of native and non-native grass and forb species was drill-seeded in a pasture previously dominated by the introduced forage grass, smooth brome (Bromus inermis). We then established 80 m x 80 m treatment plots and planted sagebrush tubelings (n = 12 plots, 1200 plants) and wildlings (n = 12 plots, 1200 plants). We also established seeded plots (n = 12) and untreated control plots (n = 6) for long-term comparison. We tracked project expenses in order to calculate costs of using tubelings vs. wildlings as modified by probability of success. RESULTS There was high (79%) tubeling and low (10%) wildling mortality within the first year. Three years post-planting, chance of survival for wildlings was significantly higher than that of tubelings (85% and 14% respectively). Despite high up-front costs of planting wildlings, high survival rates resulted in their being < 50% of the cost of tubelings on a per-surviving plant basis. Additionally, by the third year post-planting 34% of surviving tubelings and 95% of surviving wildlings showed evidence of reproduction (presence / absence of flowering stems), and the two types of plantings recruited new plants via seed (3.7 and 2.4 plants, respectively, per surviving tubeling/wildling). CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that larger plants with more developed root systems (wildlings) may be a promising avenue for increasing early establishment rates of sagebrush plants in restoration settings. Our results also illustrate the potential for tubelings and wildlings to improve restoration outcomes by "nucleating" the landscape via recruitment of new plants during ideal climate conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth C Bailey
- Dept. of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, 5230 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA
- Ecology Center, Utah State University, 5205 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA
- SWCA Environmental Consultants, 7210 Placid St, Las Vegas, NV, 89119, USA
| | - Eric Thacker
- Dept. of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, 5230 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA
| | - Thomas A Monaco
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Forage and Range Research Laboratory, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 84322, USA
| | - Kari E Veblen
- Dept. of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, 5230 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA.
- Ecology Center, Utah State University, 5205 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA.
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2
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Weise CL, Brussee BE, Coates PS, Shinneman DJ, Crist MR, Aldridge CL, Heinrichs JA, Ricca MA. A retrospective assessment of fuel break effectiveness for containing rangeland wildfires in the sagebrush biome. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2023; 341:117903. [PMID: 37146489 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.117903] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2022] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/08/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Escalated wildfire activity within the western U.S. has widespread societal impacts and long-term consequences for the imperiled sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) biome. Shifts from historical fire regimes and the interplay between frequent disturbance and invasive annual grasses may initiate permanent state transitions as wildfire frequency outpaces sagebrush communities' innate capacity to recover. Therefore, wildfire management is at the core of conservation plans for sagebrush ecosystems, especially critical habitat for species of conservation concern such as the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter sage-grouse). Fuel breaks help facilitate wildfire suppression by modifying behavior through fuels modification and allowing safe access points for containment by firefighters. The Bureau of Land Management has proposed to roughly double the existing fuel break network in the western U.S., centered on the Great Basin. To our knowledge, no broad-scale examination of fuel break effectiveness or the environmental conditions under which fuel breaks are expected to be most effective has been conducted. We performed a retrospective assessment of probability of fuel break contributing to wildfire containment on recorded wildfire and fuel break interactions from 1985 to 2018 within the western U.S. We characterized environmental, fuels, and weather conditions within 500 m of wildfire contact, and within 5 km of the approaching wildfire. We used a binomial mixed model within a Bayesian framework to identify relationships between these variables and fuel break success. Fuel breaks were least successful in areas classified as having low resilience to disturbance and low resistance to invasion, in areas composed of primarily woody fuels, and when operating in high temperature and low precipitation conditions. Fuel breaks were most effective in areas where fine fuels dominated and in areas that were readily accessible. Maintenance history and fuel break type also contributed to the probability of containment. Overall results indicate a complex and sometimes paradoxical relationship between landscape characteristics that promote wildfire spread and those that impact fuel break effectiveness. Finally, we developed predictive maps of fuel break effectiveness by fuel break type to further elucidate these complex relationships and to inform urgently needed fuel break placement and maintenance priorities across the sagebrush biome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cali L Weise
- U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Dixon Field Station, 800 Business Park Drive, Suite D, Dixon, CA, 95620, USA
| | - Brianne E Brussee
- U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Dixon Field Station, 800 Business Park Drive, Suite D, Dixon, CA, 95620, USA
| | - Peter S Coates
- U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Dixon Field Station, 800 Business Park Drive, Suite D, Dixon, CA, 95620, USA.
| | - Douglas J Shinneman
- U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, 230 N. Collins Rd., Boise, ID, 83706, USA
| | - Michele R Crist
- Bureau of Land Management, National Interagency Fire Center, 3833 Development Avenue, Boise, ID, 83705-5354, USA
| | - Cameron L Aldridge
- U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, 2150 Centre Avenue, Building C, Fort Collins, CO, 80526-8118, USA
| | - Julie A Heinrichs
- Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University; in Cooperation with U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, 2150 Centre Avenue, Building C, Fort Collins, CO, 80526-8118, USA
| | - Mark A Ricca
- U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Dixon Field Station, 800 Business Park Drive, Suite D, Dixon, CA, 95620, USA; U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, 777 NW 9th St #400, Corvallis, OR 97330, USA
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3
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Mahood AL, Koontz MJ, Balch JK. Fuel connectivity, burn severity, and seed bank survivorship drive ecosystem transformation in a semiarid shrubland. Ecology 2023; 104:e3968. [PMID: 36571436 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 10/27/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
A key challenge in ecology is understanding how multiple drivers interact to precipitate persistent vegetation state changes. These state changes may be both precipitated and maintained by disturbances, but predicting whether the state change will be fleeting or persistent requires an understanding of the mechanisms by which disturbance affects the alternative communities. In the sagebrush shrublands of the western United States, widespread annual grass invasion has increased fuel connectivity, which increases the size and spatial contiguity of fires, leading to postfire monocultures of introduced annual grasses (IAG). The novel grassland state can be persistent and is more likely to promote large fires than the shrubland it replaced. But the mechanisms by which prefire invasion and fire occurrence are linked to higher postfire flammability are not fully understood. A natural experiment to explore these interactions presented itself when we arrived in northern Nevada immediately after a 50,000 ha wildfire was extinguished. We hypothesized that the novel grassland state is maintained via a reinforcing feedback where higher fuel connectivity increases burn severity, which subsequently increases postfire IAG dispersal, seed survivorship, and fuel connectivity. We used a Bayesian joint species distribution model and structural equation model framework to assess the strength of the support for each element in this feedback pathway. We found that prefire fuel connectivity increased burn severity and that higher burn severity had mostly positive effects on the occurrence of IAG and another nonnative species and mostly negative or neutral relationships with all other species. Finally, we found that the abundance of IAG seeds in the seed bank immediately after a fire had a positive effect on the fuel connectivity 3 years after the fire, completing a positive feedback promoting IAG. These results demonstrate that the strength of the positive feedback is controlled by measurable characteristics of ecosystem structure, composition, and disturbance. Further, each node in the loop is affected independently by multiple global change drivers. It is possible that these characteristics can be modeled to predict threshold behavior and inform management actions to mitigate or slow the establishment of the grass-fire cycle, perhaps via targeted restoration applications or prefire fuel treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam L Mahood
- Department of Geography, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA.,Earth Lab, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA.,Water Resources, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| | | | - Jennifer K Balch
- Department of Geography, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA.,Earth Lab, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA.,Environmental Data Science Innovation and Inclusion Lab, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, United States
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4
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Arkle RS, Pilliod DS, Germino MJ, Jeffries MI, Welty JL. Reestablishing a foundational species: Limitations on post‐wildfire sagebrush seedling establishment. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Robert S. Arkle
- U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Boise Idaho USA
| | - David S. Pilliod
- U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Boise Idaho USA
| | - Matthew J. Germino
- U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Boise Idaho USA
| | - Michelle I. Jeffries
- U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Boise Idaho USA
| | - Justin L. Welty
- U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Boise Idaho USA
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Roth CL, O'Neil ST, Coates PS, Ricca MA, Pyke DA, Aldridge CL, Heinrichs JA, Espinosa SP, Delehanty DJ. Targeting Sagebrush (Artemisia Spp.) Restoration Following Wildfire with Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus Urophasianus) Nest Selection and Survival Models. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2022; 70:288-306. [PMID: 35687203 PMCID: PMC9252971 DOI: 10.1007/s00267-022-01649-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 04/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Unprecedented conservation efforts for sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems across the western United States have been catalyzed by risks from escalated wildfire activity that reduces habitat for sagebrush-obligate species such as Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). However, post-fire restoration is challenged by spatial variation in ecosystem processes influencing resilience to disturbance and resistance to non-native invasive species, and spatial and temporal lags between slower sagebrush recovery processes and faster demographic responses of sage-grouse to loss of important habitat. Decision-support frameworks that account for these factors can help users strategically apply restoration efforts by predicting short and long-term ecological benefits of actions. Here, we developed a framework that strategically targets burned areas for restoration actions (e.g., seeding or planting sagebrush) that have the greatest potential to positively benefit sage-grouse populations through time. Specifically, we estimated sagebrush recovery following wildfire and risk of non-native annual grass invasion under four scenarios: passive recovery, grazing exclusion, active restoration with seeding, and active restoration with seedling transplants. We then applied spatial predictions of integrated nest site selection and survival models before wildfire, immediately following wildfire, and at 30 and 50 years post-wildfire based on each restoration scenario and measured changes in habitat. Application of this framework coupled with strategic planting designs aimed at developing patches of nesting habitat may help increase operational resilience for fire-impacted sagebrush ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cali L Roth
- U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Dixon Field Station, 800 Business Park Drive, Suite D, Dixon, CA, 95620, USA
| | - Shawn T O'Neil
- U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Dixon Field Station, 800 Business Park Drive, Suite D, Dixon, CA, 95620, USA
| | - Peter S Coates
- U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Dixon Field Station, 800 Business Park Drive, Suite D, Dixon, CA, 95620, USA.
| | - Mark A Ricca
- U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Dixon Field Station, 800 Business Park Drive, Suite D, Dixon, CA, 95620, USA
| | - David A Pyke
- U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, 777 NW 9th Street, Suite 400, Corvallis, OR, 97330, USA
| | - Cameron L Aldridge
- U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, 2150 Centre Avenue, Building C, Fort Collins, CO, 80526-8118, USA
| | - Julie A Heinrichs
- Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, in cooperation with U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Colorado State University, 2150 Centre Avenue, Building C, Fort Collins, CO, 80526-8118, USA
| | - Shawn P Espinosa
- Nevada Department of Wildlife, 6980 Sierra Center Parkway #120, Reno, NV, 89511, USA
| | - David J Delehanty
- Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, USA
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6
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Germino MJ, Anthony CR, Kluender CR, Ellsworth E, Moser AM, Applestein C, Fisk MR. Relationship of greater sage‐grouse to natural and assisted recovery of key vegetation types following wildfire: insights from scat. Restor Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/rec.13758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J. Germino
- U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center 970 S. Lusk Street Boise ID 83706
| | - Christopher R. Anthony
- U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center 970 S. Lusk Street Boise ID 83706
| | - Chad R. Kluender
- U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center 970 S. Lusk Street Boise ID 83706
| | - Ethan Ellsworth
- Bureau of Land Management Idaho State Office, 1387 S. Vinnell Way Boise ID 83709
| | - Ann M. Moser
- Idaho Department of Fish and Game 600 S. Walnut, P.O. Box 25 Boise ID 83707
| | - Cara Applestein
- U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center 970 S. Lusk Street Boise ID 83706
| | - Matthew R. Fisk
- U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center 970 S. Lusk Street Boise ID 83706
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7
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Monroe AP, Nauman TW, Aldridge CL, O’Donnell MS, Duniway MC, Cade BS, Manier DJ, Anderson PJ. Assessing vegetation recovery from energy development using a dynamic reference approach. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8508. [PMID: 35222945 PMCID: PMC8855019 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Revised: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Adrian P. Monroe
- U.S. Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center Fort Collins Colorado USA
- Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory Colorado State University, in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center Fort Collins Colorado USA
| | - Travis W. Nauman
- U.S. Geological Survey Southwest Biological Science Center Moab Utah USA
| | - Cameron L. Aldridge
- U.S. Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center Fort Collins Colorado USA
- Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory Colorado State University, in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center Fort Collins Colorado USA
| | - Michael S. O’Donnell
- U.S. Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center Fort Collins Colorado USA
- Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory Colorado State University, in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center Fort Collins Colorado USA
| | - Michael C. Duniway
- U.S. Geological Survey Southwest Biological Science Center Moab Utah USA
| | - Brian S. Cade
- U.S. Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center Fort Collins Colorado USA
| | - Daniel J. Manier
- U.S. Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center Fort Collins Colorado USA
| | - Patrick J. Anderson
- U.S. Geological Survey Fort Collins Science Center Fort Collins Colorado USA
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Robb BC, Olsoy PJ, Mitchell JJ, Caughlin TT, Delparte DM, Galla SJ, Fremgen‐Tarantino MR, Nobler JD, Rachlow JL, Shipley LA, Forbey JS. Near‐infrared spectroscopy aids ecological restoration by classifying variation of taxonomy and phenology of a native shrub. Restor Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/rec.13584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Brecken C. Robb
- Department of Biological Sciences Boise State University 1910 W University Drive Boise ID 83725 U.S.A
| | - Peter J. Olsoy
- Department of Biological Sciences Boise State University 1910 W University Drive Boise ID 83725 U.S.A
| | - Jessica J. Mitchell
- Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Science University of Montana 32 Campus Drive Missoula MT 59812 U.S.A
| | - T. Trevor Caughlin
- Department of Biological Sciences Boise State University 1910 W University Drive Boise ID 83725 U.S.A
| | - Donna M. Delparte
- Department of Geosciences Idaho State University 921 S 8th Avenue Pocatello ID 83209 U.S.A
| | - Stephanie J. Galla
- Department of Biological Sciences Boise State University 1910 W University Drive Boise ID 83725 U.S.A
| | | | - Jordan D. Nobler
- Department of Biological Sciences Boise State University 1910 W University Drive Boise ID 83725 U.S.A
| | - Janet L. Rachlow
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences University of Idaho 875 Perimeter Drive Moscow ID 83844 U.S.A
| | - Lisa A. Shipley
- School of the Environment Washington State University 100 Dairy Road/1228 Webster Pullman WA 99164 U.S.A
| | - Jennifer S. Forbey
- Department of Biological Sciences Boise State University 1910 W University Drive Boise ID 83725 U.S.A
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9
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Balancing model generality and specificity in management-focused habitat selection models for Gunnison sage-grouse. Glob Ecol Conserv 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
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10
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Pilliod DS, Jeffries MA, Welty JL, Arkle RS. Protecting restoration investments from the cheatgrass‐fire cycle in sagebrush steppe. CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/csp2.508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- David S. Pilliod
- US Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Boise Idaho USA
| | - Michelle A. Jeffries
- US Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Boise Idaho USA
| | - Justin L. Welty
- US Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Boise Idaho USA
| | - Robert S. Arkle
- US Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Boise Idaho USA
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