Historic grazing practices coupled with decreased fire frequency in mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata var. vaseyana) communities has resulted in artificially high shrub canopy cover causing limited herbaceous understory. Several types of treatments are used by rangeland management to reduce sagebrush canopy and have been applied to sagebrush systems for decades. Generally, the objective of these treatments are to produce more herbaceous biomass for livestock and/or improve habitat for wildlife such as sage grouse (a species of conservation concern). However, scientific evaluations of herbaceous biomass and vegetation responses to chemical treatment, such as tebuthiuron, are limited in mountain sagebrush communities. We evaluated herbaceous biomass production and vegetation response in mountain big sagebrush communities using five pastures that were treated with tebuthiuron within different years (2006-2012). To evaluate herbaceous biomass production and vegetation response since time of treatment, we will analyze the data collected using an effect size analysis. This research will help managers better understand how tebuthiuron impacts herbaceous biomass production and mountain big sagebrush ecosystems. This information is critical for managing livestock and wildlife in mountain sagebrush ecosystems.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.