Weather-Centric Rangeland Revegetation Planning

Hardegree, Stuart P.; Abatzoglou, John T.; Brunson, Mark W.; Germino, Matthew J.; Hegewisch, Katherine C.; Moffet, Corey A.; Pilliod, David S.; Roundy, Bruce A.; Boehm, Alex R.; Meredith, Gwendŵr R.

doi:10.1016/j.rama.2017.07.003

Cited by 66 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 128 publications

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“…Overall, our random sampling of BLM seeding applica- Ecologists increasingly recognize that climate change poses a major challenge for restoration (Butterfield, Copeland, Munson, Roybal, & Wood, 2017;Harris, Hobbs, Higgs, & Aronson, 2006). However, enabling restoration in warmer and increasingly variable climates will require identifying key demographic transitions and environmental conditions driving species, such as sagebrush, so that intervention efforts can be planned to maximize success Hardegree et al, 2018). One of the most robust and consistent climate projections in the Great Basin is increasing temperatures which will lead to declines in snowpack, regardless of the effect on total precipitation (Collins et al, 2013;Palmquist et al, 2016a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adapting management to a changing world: Warm temperatures, dry soil, and interannual variability limit restoration success of a dominant woody shrub in temperate drylands

Shriver

Andrews

Pilliod

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

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131

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Restoration and rehabilitation of native vegetation in dryland ecosystems, which encompass over 40% of terrestrial ecosystems, is a common challenge that continues to grow as wildfire and biological invasions transform dryland plant communities. The difficulty in part stems from low and variable precipitation, combined with limited understanding about how weather conditions influence restoration outcomes, and increasing recognition that one-time seeding approaches can fail if they do not occur during appropriate plant establishment conditions. The sagebrush biome, which once covered over 620,000 km of western North America, is a prime example of a pressing dryland restoration challenge for which restoration success has been variable. We analyzed field data on Artemisia tridentata (big sagebrush) restoration collected at 771 plots in 177 wildfire sites across its western range, and used process-based ecohydrological modeling to identify factors leading to its establishment. Our results indicate big sagebrush occurrence is most strongly associated with relatively cool temperatures and wet soils in the first spring after seeding. In particular, the amount of winter snowpack, but not total precipitation, helped explain the availability of spring soil moisture and restoration success. We also find considerable interannual variability in the probability of sagebrush establishment. Adaptive management strategies that target seeding during cool, wet years or mitigate effects of variability through repeated seeding may improve the likelihood of successful restoration in dryland ecosystems. Given consistent projections of increasing temperatures, declining snowpack, and increasing weather variability throughout midlatitude drylands, weather-centric adaptive management approaches to restoration will be increasingly important for dryland restoration success.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adapting management to a changing world: Warm temperatures, dry soil, and interannual variability limit restoration success of a dominant woody shrub in temperate drylands

Shriver

Andrews

Pilliod

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

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131

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“…First, the weather that occurs the year immediately following seeding treatments (especially precipitation and temperature) can impact the rate and magnitude of vegetation recovery (Brabec et al 2017, Hardegree et al 2017, Shriver et al 2018, and likely enhance model explanatory power. First, the weather that occurs the year immediately following seeding treatments (especially precipitation and temperature) can impact the rate and magnitude of vegetation recovery (Brabec et al 2017, Hardegree et al 2017, Shriver et al 2018, and likely enhance model explanatory power.…”

Section: Study Implications and Future Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil characteristics are associated with gradients of big sagebrush canopy structure after disturbance

et al. 2019

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Reestablishing shrub canopy cover after disturbance in semi‐arid ecosystems, such as sagebrush steppe, is essential to provide wildlife habitat and restore ecosystem functioning. While several studies have explored the effects of landscape and climate factors on the success or failure of sagebrush seeding, the influence of soil properties on gradients of shrub canopy structure in successfully seeded areas remains largely unexplored. In this study, we evaluated associations between soil properties and gradients in sagebrush canopy structure in stands that had successfully reestablished after fire and subsequent seeding treatments. Using a dataset collected across the Great Basin, USA, of sagebrush stands that had burned and reestablished between 1986 and 2013, we tested soil depth and texture, soil surface classification, biological soil crusts plus mean historical precipitation, solar heatload, and fire history as modeling variables to explore gradients in sagebrush canopy structure growth in terms of cover, height, and density. Deeper soils were associated with greater sagebrush canopy structure development in terms of plant density and percent cover, coarser textured soils were associated with greater sagebrush cover and density, and more clayey soils were typically associated with greater height. Biological crust presence was also positively associated with enhanced sagebrush canopy growth, but adding more demographically or morphologically explicit descriptions of biocrust communities did not improve explanatory power. Increasing heatload had a negative effect on sagebrush canopy structure growth, and increased mean annual precipitation was only associated with greater sagebrush height. Given that conservation and restoration of the sagebrush steppe ecosystems has become a priority for land managers, the associations we identify between gradients in post‐fire sagebrush canopy structure growth and field‐identifiable soil characteristics may improve planning of land treatments for sagebrush restoration and the understanding of semi‐arid ecosystem functioning and post‐disturbance dynamics.

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“…Hardegree et al . () illustrated in detail how s2s forecasts could be integrated into rangeland management to inform adaptive management practices and identify effective solutions to the substantial challenges of dryland revegetation. More broadly, s2s forecasts allow managers to adjust the timing of treatments to optimize the likelihood of success, given projected conditions.…”

Section: Anticipating Short‐term Climate Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, plant regeneration in dryland ecosystems is only successful if seedlings can avoid drought-driven mortality as they develop root systems that access deeper soils with more reliable moisture levels (Muñoz-Rojas et al 2016). Hardegree et al (2017) illustrated in detail how s2s forecasts could be integrated into rangeland management to inform adaptive management practices and identify effective solutions to the substantial challenges of dryland revegetation. More broadly, s2s forecasts allow managers to adjust the timing of treatments to optimize the likelihood of success, given projected conditions.…”

Section: Management Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Third, adaptive management partnerships need sustained support to test and refine feasible strategies to exploit eco-climatological forecasts, particularly over short-and near-term timescales (Hardegree et al 2017). Adaptive management principles are used in many science-management partnerships to explore solutions to climate-change challenges.…”

Section: J Anticipatory Science To Inform Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Anticipatory natural resource science and management for a changing future

Bradford

Betancourt

Butterfield

et al. 2018

Frontiers in Ecol & Environ

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Prolonged shifts in long‐term average climate conditions and increasing variability in short‐term weather conditions affect ecological processes, and represent a fundamental challenge for natural resource management. Recent and forthcoming advances in climate predictability may offer novel opportunities, but capitalizing on these opportunities will require focusing scientific research on understanding the links between climate and ecological responses over multiple timescales, fostering programmatic links among science and management agencies, and developing new and flexible decision‐making frameworks. Anticipating short‐ to near‐term climate conditions can help managers mitigate land degradation driven by unfavorable conditions and promote actions that make the most of favorable conditions. Similarly, anticipating long‐term, multidecadal climate trajectories can help managers to identify those species and communities that are most likely to remain viable throughout the 21st century. A focus on “anticipatory science and management” could substantially bolster natural resource planning and management but will require long‐term investment and widespread adoption.

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Weather-Centric Rangeland Revegetation Planning

Cited by 66 publications

References 128 publications

Adapting management to a changing world: Warm temperatures, dry soil, and interannual variability limit restoration success of a dominant woody shrub in temperate drylands

Adapting management to a changing world: Warm temperatures, dry soil, and interannual variability limit restoration success of a dominant woody shrub in temperate drylands

Soil characteristics are associated with gradients of big sagebrush canopy structure after disturbance

Anticipatory natural resource science and management for a changing future

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