Sagebrush-grassland ecosystems are one of the most imperiled ecosystems in North America. Fire has resulted in large areas instantly losing their shrub component with little hope to regain it soon without assistance. Consequently, Greater Sage-Grouse, a species of conservation concern, experiences immediate and large-scale habitat loss because it depends on sagebrush at multiple scales. As a result, managers are faced with a need to restore sagebrush-grasslands that meet both landscape and site-specific requirements. Managers are seeking decision support tools for implementing restoration objectives across landscapes in a cost-effective manner. Using recent concepts about sagebrush ecosystem resilience to disturbances and resistance to invasive annuals, we developed a decision tool that meets these objectives and that also will address restoration of habitat for Greater Sage-Grouse. The decision support tool is assembled in three parts. Part I provides background ecological and management concepts that are necessary for the practitioner to use two successive decision tools. Part II describes a hierarchical approach to restoration with the initial decisions conducted at the landscape level. It is geared toward decision makers who must prioritize where limited funds could be applied to gain the greatest benefit across a region. We used examples of probabilistic models and GIS data intersections to develop a hierarchy of potential habitat for restoration from the landscape to the site-specific scale. Part III describes project-level restoration tools. These latter parts are designed to be followed in a step-by-step progression to ensure that critical decisions are made in the appropriate order to ascertain best management practices.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.