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IMPLEMENTING WILDFIRE AND VEGETATION MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
Author
Crist, Michele
Chambers, Jeanne
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2018
Body

Wildfire has always been an important ecosystem process across the sagebrush biome. Recently, the scale of sagebrush ecosystem loss and fragmentation has increased significantly due to a combination of uncharacteristic wildfire, invasive annual grasses, conifer expansion (primarily pi�on and juniper), and anthropogenic use and development. A strategic approach to wildfire and vegetation management is now required that focuses available resources in places that will maximize conservation return on investment. Wildfire management integrated with vegetation management (fuels reduction and ecosystem restoration) has the potential to increase that return on investment by enhancing the resilience of native sagebrush ecosystems to stress and disturbance and/or resistance to invasive annual grasses. This integrated management aids in maintaining ecosystem connectivity and ecological processes. Similarly, vegetation management planned in conjunction with post-fire restoration helps maintain functionally diverse plant communities with the capacity to persist and stabilize ecosystem processes under altered disturbance regimes. When placed in the context of large landscapes, these actions collectively are part of a management strategy to maintain the necessary ecosystem processes and connectivity, protect vulnerable ecosystems and species from uncharacteristic wildfire cycles, and adapt to fluctuations in climate. An understanding of the linkages among ecosystem resilience to disturbance and resistance to invasion, priority areas and habitats for management, and the predominant threats can be used to effectively target wildfire and habitat management actions. The effects of wildfire processes on sagebrush communities depend on the communities� relative resilience to disturbance and resistance to invasive annual grasses. Geospatial analyses and mapping based on indicators of resilience and resistance, GRSG breeding habitat probabilities, and large wildfire probabilities, can be used to inform wildland fire management decisions related to preparedness, suppression, vegetation management, and post-fire restoration at multiple scales across the sagebrush biome.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Reno, NV
Collection
SRM Annual Meeting Abstracts