Learn the Latest Science on Conifers in these Short Videos
Some trees are threatening to take over the healthy rangelands that birds, livestock and people depend on. Fortunately, scientists can show how, where, and why to thwart this invasion. The Society for Range Management’s (SRM) scientific journal, Rangeland Ecology & Management, released a special issue focused entirely on this landscape-level threat and these studies were presented at a live-streamed science symposium last month. The event was recorded and available to the public for free.
Fires once kept native conifers from expanding into sagebrush rangelands. In the last 150 years, junipers and pinyon pines have marched across rangeland, drying up precious streams and threatening sage grouse. In the Great Basin, conifers have expanded their range by 600 percent, overtaking many of the native plants that sustain agricultural operations as well as 350 species. The new research papers describe the impacts of the woody invasion of western rangelands.
Emceed by Rick Miller, a woodland expansion expert from Oregon State University, the latest-science symposium highlighted new tools for planning conifer removal projects, data on rapid sage-grouse recolonization into newly available habitat following conifer removal, enhanced grouse nesting and brood survival metrics following cuttings, songbird benefits from conifer removal, and higher water retention results on ranches without trees.
Rangeland Ecology & Management, Vol, 70. Issue 1 | Woody invasion of western rangelands: Using grouse as focal species for ecosystem restoration
Introduction and Summary
Special Issue: Targeted Woodland Removal to Recover At-Risk Grouse and Their Sagebrush-Steppe and Prairie Ecosystems by Richard F. Miller, David E. Naugle, Jeremy D. Maestas, Christian A. Hagen, Galon Hall
Woodland Expansion Threat
A Hierarchical Perspective to Woody Plant Encroachment for Conservation of Prairie-Chickens by Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Torre J. Hovick, R. Dwayne Elmore, Ashley M. Tanner, David M. Engle, Craig A. Davis
Stay tuned for LPCI’s Science to Solutions summary! Mapping Tree Canopy Cover in Support of Proactive Prairie Grouse Conservation in Western North America by Michael J. Falkowski, Jeffrey S. Evans, David E. Naugle, Christian A. Hagen, Scott A. Carleton, Jeremy D. Maestas, Azad Henareh Khalyani, Aaron J. Poznanovic, Andrew J. Lawrence
Vegetation Response
Sage Grouse Groceries: Forb Response to Piñon-Juniper Treatments by Jonathan D. Bates, Kirk W. Davies, April Hulet, Richard F. Miller, Bruce Roundy
Ecosystem Water Availability
Read SGI’s Science to Solutions summary! Ecosystem Water Availability in Juniper versus Sagebrush Snow-Dominated Rangelands by Patrick R. Kormos, Danny Marks, Frederick B. Pierson, C. Jason Williams, Stuart P. Hardegree, Scott Havens, Andrew Hedrick, Jonathan D. Bates, Tony J. Svejcar
Human Dimensions and Restoration Paradigms
Conserving the Greater Sage-Grouse: A Social-Ecological Systems Case Study from the California-Nevada Region by Alison L. Duvall, Alexander L. Metcalf, Peter S. Coates
The Sage-Grouse Habitat Mortgage: Effective Conifer Management in Space and Time by Chad S. Boyd, Jay D. Kerby, Tony J. Svejcar, Jon D. Bates, Dustin D. Johnson, Kirk W. Davies
Sagebrush Songbirds Response
Bird Responses to Removal of Western Juniper in Sagebrush-Steppe by Aaron L. Holmes, Jeremy D. Maestas, David E. Naugle
Read SGI’s Science to Solutions summary! Extending Conifer Removal and Landscape Protection Strategies from Sage-Grouse to Songbirds, a Range-Wide Assessment by J. Patrick Donnelly, Jason D. Tack, Kevin E. Doherty, David E. Naugle, Brady W. Allred, Victoria J. Dreitz
Sage Grouse Response
Pinyon and Juniper Encroachment into Sagebrush Ecosystems Impacts Distribution and Survival of Greater Sage-Grouse by Peter S. Coates, Brian G. Prochazka, Mark A. Ricca, K. Ben Gustafson, Pilar Ziegler, Michael L. Casazza
Encounters with Pinyon-Juniper Influence Riskier Movements in Greater Sage-Grouse Across the Great Basin by Brian G. Prochazka, Peter S. Coates, Mark A. Ricca, Michael L. Casazza, K. Benjamin Gustafson, Josh M. Hull
Read SGI’s Science to Solutions summary! Short-Term Response of Sage-Grouse Nesting to Conifer Removal in the Northern Great Basin by John P. Severson, Christian A. Hagen, Jeremy D. Maestas, David E. Naugle, J. Todd Forbes, Kerry P. Reese
Greater Sage-Grouse Resource Selection Drives Reproductive Fitness Under a Conifer Removal Strategy by Charles P. Sandford, Michel T. Kohl, Terry A. Messmer, David K. Dahlgren, Avery Cook, Brian R. Wing
Lesser Prairie Chickens Response
Lesser Prairie-Chicken Avoidance of Trees in a Grassland Landscape by Joseph M. Lautenbach, Reid T. Plumb, Samantha G. Robinson, Christian A. Hagen, David A. Haukos, James C. Pitman
Read LPCI’s Science to Solutions summary! Impacts of Mesquite Distribution on Seasonal Space Use of Lesser Prairie-Chickens by Matthew A. Boggie, Cody R. Strong, Daniel Lusk, Scott A. Carleton, William R. Gould, Randy L. Howard, Clay Nichols, Michael Falkowski, Christian Hagen