Effects of Fire and Rehabilitation Seeding on Sage Grouse Habitat in the Pinyon-Juniper Zone. An Exension of the Great Basin Pinyon-Juniper Demonstration Area. (Final Report, Project 01B-3-3-01)

摘要

Throughout much of the western United States, expansion of pinyon and juniper species into sagebrush ecosystems is altering the structure and composition of sagebrush communities and resulting in increased fire frequency, severity, and size. Increased tree densities in combination with altered fire regimes are having negative effects on both sagebrush communities and sagebrush obligates, including sage grouse, a species under consideration for listing as threatened or endangered. Maintaining and restoring habitat of sagebrush obligate species is becoming a management priority, and both local and regional fire management plans need to consider the effects of proposed actions, including prescribed fire, on the habitat of sagebrush obligate bird species. This study used the existing Great Basin Demonstration Project (no. 00-2-15) to examine the effects of prescribed fire on the habitats and bird species within the pinyon-juniper zone.