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The loss of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) on sites disturbed by fire has motivated restoration seeding and planting efforts. However, the resulting sagebrush establishment is often lower than desired, especially in dry areas. Sagebrush establishment may be increased by addressing factors such as seed source and condition or management of the plant community. We assessed initial establishment of seeded sagebrush and four populations of small outplants (from different geographies, climates, and cytotypes) and small sagebrush outplants in an early seral community where mowing, herbicide, and seeding of other native plants had been experimentally applied. No emergence of seeded sagebrush was detected. Mowing...
Abstract (from ScienceDirect): Altered climate and changing fire regimes are synergistically impacting forest communities globally, resulting in deviations from historical norms and creation of novel successional dynamics. These changes are particularly important when considering the stability of a keystone species such as quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), which contributes critical ecosystem services across its broad North American range. As a relatively drought intolerant species, projected changes of altered precipitation timing, amount, and type (e.g. snow or rain) may influence aspen response to fire, especially in moisture-limited and winter precipitation-dominated portions of its range. Aspen is...
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The Fuels Guide and Database for Big Sagebrush Ecological Sites was developed as part of the Joint Fire Sciences Program project "Quantifying and predicting fuels and the effects of reduction treatments along successional and invasion gradients in sagebrush habitats" (Shinneman and others, 2015). The research was carried out by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center and Boise State University researchers, in partnership with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Idaho Army National Guard. Most of the research for the project focused on the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area (hereafter the NCA) in southern Idaho. Sagebrush shrublands in...
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The dataset includes several measurements collected for two complementary phases of a Sandberg bluegrass restoration project. In the first phase of the project, percentage of vegetation and soil surface cover (e.g. soil, rock) were measured within each of 20 treatment plots (described in the following section) using the Line Point Intercept (LPI) method (Herrick et al. 2005) from 2019-2021. Sandberg bluegrass density was also measured by counting individual plants within 0.5 x 0.5 meter quadrats systematically placed along the transects. Herbaceous biomass was destructively harvested within 0.5 x 0.5 m quadrats that were also systematically placed (at different meter marks than density quadrats) along the transects....
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The dataset includes several variables sampled across burned and unburned sagebrush communities located in a ~30 square kilometer portion of the Columbia Plateau Ecoregion in eastern Washington, USA. The study area is characterized by landforms interspersed at fine-scales, representative of the channeled scabland topography of the region (Baker 2009), including: “mounds,” which are dome-like micro-topographic features, typically 1-2 m in height and ~2 m to 25 m in mean diameter, with relatively deep, well-drained loess soils; and surrounding “flats,” with rocky, thin-soils over basaltic bedrock. Unburned mounds are typically dominated by big sagebrush (A. tridentata) and flats by scabland sagebrush (A. rigida) communities....
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FY2013“The loss of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) on sites disturbed by fire has motivated many restoration seeding and planting efforts. However, the resulting sagebrush establishment is often lower than desired, especially in dry areas. Sagebrush establishment may be increased by addressing factors such as seed source and condition or management of the plant community. The research team assessed initial establishment of seeded sagebrush and four populations of small outplants (from different geographies, climates, and cytotypes) and small sagebrush outplants in an early seral community where mowing, herbicide, and seeding of other native plants had been experimentally applied. No emergence of seeded...
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FY2011Aspen populations are in decline across western North America due to altered fire regimes, herbivory, drought, pathogens, and competition with conifers. Aspen stands typically support higher avian biodiversity than surrounding habitats, and maintaining current distributions of several avian species is likely tied to persistence of aspen on the landscape. We are examining effects of climate change on aspen and associated avian communities in isolated mountain ranges of the northern Great Basin, by coupling empirical models of avian-habitat relationships with spatially-explicit landscape simulations of vegetation and disturbance dynamics (using LANDIS-II) under various climate change scenarios. We are addressing...
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Aspen forests are considered keystone ecosystems, meaning that loss of aspen habitat would result in negative impacts to numerous plant and animal species. Aspen also provide important economic and social benefits, including drawing tourists, serving as potential fire breaks, improving local economies, and providing forage for wildlife and livestock. Ecologically-valuable aspen forests are considered at risk in many areas of the western U.S., but especially in lower-elevation areas. Risks to aspen include climate-change and past land use. The effects of drought and browsing animals (that eat young aspen) are often more severe for lower-elevation aspen and can threaten aspen forest health and long-term persistence....
Abstract (from Ecological Society of America): Species that are primarily seral may form stable (self‐sustaining) communities under certain disturbance regimes or environmental conditions, yet such populations may also be particularly vulnerable to ecological change. Aspen (Populus spp.) are generally considered seral throughout the Northern Hemisphere, including P. tremuloides, the most widely distributed tree species in North America. Recent declines in aspen populations have occurred, especially along drought‐sensitive margins of its range and where fire exclusion and herbivory have promoted community transition. However, aspen also forms stable stands, and examination of the mechanisms that influence persistence...
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Aspen is an environmentally, economically, and socially important species in the western U.S. It is typically the most abundant deciduous tree species in mountainous landscapes of the western U.S., providing food and habitat for a variety of wildlife, including black bear, deer, elk, moose, and numerous bird species. Aspen woodlands also provide high quality forage for livestock and draw tourists to the region to view the golden vistas that form in the fall. However, aspen is currently declining across large portions of the West and it’s estimated that approximately 40% of western aspen will be without suitable climate conditions within 50 years. In the northern and central Rocky Mountains, it’s thought that reduced...
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This dataset contains two phases of research. The first dataset includes several variables that were sampled across aspen stands in the Santa Rosa, Ruby, and Jarbidge mountain ranges (Great Basin, Northern Nevada, USA) in 2010 and 2011. Across 101 aspen sites, several plot-level attributes were collected (e.g. elevation, slope, aspen stand type). For each plot, data describing live trees (both those less than 7.5 cm diameter and those greater than/equal to 7.5 cm) are included, such as species, diameter, and age. The data set also includes information for dead trees greater than/equal to 7.5 cm diameter (e.g. species, location, diameter). The second dataset includes tree ring measurements (for live trees greater...
Quaking aspen is generally considered to be a fire-adapted species because it regenerates prolifically after fire, and it can be replaced by more shade-tolerant tree species in the absence of fire. As early-successional aspen stands transition to greater conifer-dominance, they become increasingly fire prone, until fire returns, and aspen again temporarily dominate. While this disturbance-succession cycle is critical to the persistence of aspen on many landscapes, some aspen stands persist on the landscape without fire. The complex role of fire is an important consideration for developing conservation and restoration strategies intended to sustain aspen.
    map background search result map search result map Projecting the Effects of Climate Change on Aspen in the Central and Northern Rocky Mountains Restoring Big Sagebrush Quantifying vulnerability of quaking aspen woodlands and associate bird communities to global climate change in the northern Great Basin Fuels Database for Intact and Invaded Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) Ecological Sites Northern Nevada aspen (Populus tremuloides) data (2010-2011) (ver. 2.0, January 2024) Vegetation data from burned and unburned sagebrush communities in eastern Washington (2016) Vulnerability of Lower-Elevation Aspen Forests to Altered Fire and Climate Dynamics: Assessing Risks and Developing Actionable Science Cover, density, and biomass data from Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda) restoration treatments Vegetation data from burned and unburned sagebrush communities in eastern Washington (2016) Fuels Database for Intact and Invaded Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) Ecological Sites Cover, density, and biomass data from Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda) restoration treatments Northern Nevada aspen (Populus tremuloides) data (2010-2011) (ver. 2.0, January 2024) Quantifying vulnerability of quaking aspen woodlands and associate bird communities to global climate change in the northern Great Basin Projecting the Effects of Climate Change on Aspen in the Central and Northern Rocky Mountains Vulnerability of Lower-Elevation Aspen Forests to Altered Fire and Climate Dynamics: Assessing Risks and Developing Actionable Science