Avoiding cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) dominance following tree -reduction treatments on woodland (Juniperus spp.)-encroached sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) communities is a priority for managers in the Great Basin. Perennial herbaceous and cheatgrass cover have been related to site resilience after treatment. Associating site environmental characteristics with cheatgrass and perennial herbaceous cover may aid managers with identifying sites that are more or less resilient to fire or fire surrogate treatments. We associated 43 site environmental characteristics with perennial herbaceous and cheatgrass cover previously collected at 45 treated and untreated Great Basin wooded shrublands. Site environmental characteristics were derived from 5 m digital elevation models (DEM), BIOCLIM, and ClimateWNA geospatial datasets. Associations were made by developing spatial regression models that indicate potential vegetation response to tree reduction treatments for 30 yr climate conditions. Preliminary results indicate that mean precipitation and temperature during the wettest month and quarter of the year had the strongest associations with cheatgrass cover following tree reduction. This investigation of environmental characteristics associated with cheatgrass and perennial herbaceous response in wooded sagebrush lands may allow us to better decide which sites to treat and whether seeding is needed or not in conjunction with tree reduction treatments.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.