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Fire and Rangelands

Displaying 11 - 20 of 47

Plant community response to prescribed fire varies by pre-fire condition and season of burn in mountain big sagebrush ecosystems

Year of Publication
2017
Publication Type

Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana ecosystems evolved with periodic fire, but invasive grasses, conifer encroachment, fire suppression, and climate change have resulted in altered fire regimes and plant communities. Post-fire increases in invasive annual grasses such as Bromus tectorum and reductions in native vegetation are common across the sagebrush steppe.

Secretarial Order 3336 Science Priorities: The Role of Science Past, Present, and Future

Year of Publication
2016
Publication Type

Within sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems, which are home to more than 350 species of plants and animals, potentially more frequent and severe fires are causing an increased threat to human safety, property, rural economies, and wildlife habitat. In particular, the habitat of the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), an iconic sagebrush-dependent species, is at risk.

Winter grazing decreases the probability of fire-induced mortality of bunchgrasses and may reduce wildfire size: a response to Smith et al.

Year of Publication
2016
Publication Type

A recent commentary by Smith et al. (2016) argues that our study (Davies et al. 2016) containedmethodological errors and lacked data necessary to support our conclusions, in particular that winter grazing may reducethe probability of fire-induced mortality of bunchgrasses. Carefully reading Davies et al. (2016) and relevant literatureprovides strong evidence that the comments of Smith et al.

The ability of winter grazing to reduce wildfire size and fire-induced plant mortality was not demonstrated: a comment on Davies et al. (2015)

Year of Publication
2016
Publication Type

A recent study by Davies et al. sought to test whether winter grazing could reduce wildfire size, fire behaviourand intensity metrics, and fire-induced plant mortality in shrub–grasslands. The authors concluded that ungrazedrangelands may experience fire-induced mortality of native perennial bunchgrasses.