Vegetation response after fuel treatments in sagebrush steppe encroached by pinyon and juniper trees is a function of the pretreatment plant community, disturbance treatment, and site environmental conditions. Three years after fire or mechanical fuel control, perennial grass cover had increased about 10% over pretreatment cover for 9 sites spread across the Great Basin. Perennial grass cover is a key component in these systems in avoiding the crossing of a biotic threshold by reducing weed dominance and avoiding crossing of an abiotic threshold by reducing interspace erosion. Although cheatgrass cover was < 6% after fuel reduction on most sites 3 years after treatment, many sites had patches of cheatgrass dominance, especially after prescribed fire, and two sites had >27% cover. This presentation examines vegetation response on these sites 6 years post-treatment and in relation to site environmental characteristics. This information should help guide managers by suggesting which kinds of sites are most resilient after fuel reduction treatments.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.