This project responds to an identified need to harness practitioners experience and outcomes of large-scale habitat restoration efforts in the sagebrush biome to inform future restoration treatments and adaptive management of ongoing projects. The project will capitalize on existing rangeland restoration project databases (e.g. the Land Treatment Digital Library [LTDL], Land Treatment Exploration Tool [LTET], and others currently being managed at local and state levels) at a time when both state and federal funding opportunities are enabling land managers to treat sagebrush ecosystem threats, particularly invasive annual grasses, at large landscape scales. We will implement a robust, yet practical monitoring plan for landscape-scale treatments spanning administrative boundaries and work with U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developers to customize the existing LTET platform to better integrate monitoring data for decision-making. The enhanced tool will allow resource managers to: 1) access customizable and meaningful case studies of restoration efforts implemented across the sagebrushbiome using the first landscape-scale dynamic treatment database that relates treatment outcomes to landscape, vegetation, climate, and treatment variables; and thereby 2) better understand why restoration succeeds or fails, how to adaptively manage and plan for future projects, and if restoration investments are growing or protecting vital habitat.
