The 2008 Joint Meeting of the Society for Range Management and the America Forage and Grassland Council. |
Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 9:40 AM
Recovery of Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Features in Wyoming Big Sagebrush Following Prescribed Fire
Jeffrey L. Beck, Department of Renewable Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, John W. Connelly, Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID 83209, and Kerry P. Reese, Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844.
Fire is commonly prescribed to induce changes in composition and structure of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) communities across western North America . However, the ability of fire to enhance habitat features for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in Wyoming big sagebrush (A. tridentata wyomingensis) is poorly understood. We evaluated recovery of habitat features important to wintering, nesting, and early brood-rearing sage-grouse in Wyoming big sagebrush following prescribed fire. Our case study included 1 year of pre-burn (1989) and 10 years of postburn data collected over 14 years (1990–2003) from ≥50 km2 control and burned study areas in the Big Desert of southeastern Idaho, USA. We compared recovery and rate of change for 12 habitat features in 4 categories reflective of habitat components between burned and control transects and recovery in burned transects including change in variation. Our results indicate that prescribed fire induced positive, neutral, and negative changes in wintering, nesting, and early brood-rearing sage-grouse habitat features 14 years after fire in Wyoming big sagebrush in our study area. Specifically, grass and litter required by sage-grouse for nest and brood concealment recovered relatively rapidly following fire; major forb recovery was similar between burned and control sites, but the rate of increase for major forb cover and richness was greater in control transects; and, structurally-mediated habitat features required by sage-grouse for food and cover in winter and for nest and brood concealment in spring recovered slowly following fire. Because shrub-structural features in our study did not recover in magnitude or variability to preburn levels 14 years after fire, we recommend managers avoid burning Wyoming big sagebrush to enhance sage-grouse habitat, but rather implement carefully-planned treatments that maintain sagebrush.
See more of Fire Ecology
See more of Ecology
See more of The 2008 Joint Meeting of the Society for Range Management and the American Forage and Grassland Council (January 26 - 31, 2008)
See more of Ecology
See more of The 2008 Joint Meeting of the Society for Range Management and the American Forage and Grassland Council (January 26 - 31, 2008)