Improving the Success of Post-Fire Adaptive Management Strategies in Sagebrush Steppe

Principal Investigator

Matthew Germino

Start Date

2018-07-09

End Date

2020-08-06

Release Date

2018

Sagebrush steppe is one of the most widely distributed ecosystems in North America, but is increasingly imperiled from shifting fire behavior due to exotic grass invasion and climate shifts. While sagebrush is slow to return after fire, exotic grasses are well adapted and can spread quickly, converting vast swaths of sagebrush steppe to exotic monocultures with critical impacts to ecosystem services, grazing lands, and game and threatened species such as the greater sage grouse. To address this growing concern, resource managers use post-fire treatments such as herbicide applications, to reduce exotic grass invasion, and seeding and plantings to reestablish native vegetation. However, these efforts have had mixed results and poor success is often attributed to difficult to predict drought events that can inhibit the establishment and survival of seeding or planting material; a limited amount of time to make rehabilitation treatments (i.e. typically required in the first year post-fire); or by using seed or planting material that is not adapted to the treatment area. In this study we will use data collected from >300 fires over the past ~40 years that were treated with sagebrush seed, the drought forecasts available, and physiological drought responses on sagebrush populations collected from sagebrush “common gardens.” Our analyses will quantify the impact of drought in these treatments through a retrospective analysis, how using drought forecasts or extending treatments over multiple years could have altered treatment outcomes, and how to select more appropriate and adaptable plant material for rehabilitation projects. The proposed work has the potential to impact how land is managed in the western United States and will inform current needs that must be met to keep these lands ecologically and economically viable in the future. This project was jointly funded by the Southwest, Northwest, and North Central CASCs.

ScienceBase WMS

• National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers
• North Central CASC
• Northwest CASC
• Southwest CASC