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RESILIENCE AND RESISTANCE CONCEPTUALIZED TO MANAGE THREATS TO SAGEBRUSH-ECOSYSTEMS AND SAGE-GROUSE IN THEIR EASTERN RANGE.
Author
Beck, Jeffrey L.
Chambers, Jeanne
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2017
Body

Persistent ecosystem and anthropogenic disturbances and stressors are threatening sustainability of sagebrush (Artemisia�spp.) ecosystems in the western United States, and managers and policy makers are seeking strategic, holistic approaches for species conservation and ecosystem restoration. Recent research indicates that an understanding of ecosystem resilience to disturbance and resistance to nonnative invasive species can be used to prioritize management activities across large landscapes and determine the most appropriate actions at project scales. An interagency working group of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies has linked this understanding with breeding habitat probabilities for greater (Centrocercus�urophasianus) and Gunnison sage-grouse (C.�minimus), and developed a habitat decision matrix for assisting land managers in best allocating resources. This approach was incorporated into the Subregional Greater Sage-grouse Environmental Impact Statements and served as the basis of a U.S. Department of Interior (DOI)-Bureau of Land Management Fire and Invasives Assessment Tool which was used to prioritize sage-grouse habitat for targeted management activities in the Great Basin. Recently a similar approach has been developed for Gunnison sage-grouse and the eastern range of greater sage-grouse�the Sagebrush Management Resilience and Resistance Tool (SMRRT). A 2015 Implementation Plan for DOI Secretarial Order 3336�Rangeland Fire Prevention, Management and Restoration�provides necessary guidance to ensure application of this approach.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM St. George, UT
Collection
SRM Annual Meeting Abstracts