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Abstract
The Science Framework is part of an unprecedented conservation effort underway across 11 States in the western United States to address threats to sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems and the species that depend on them. Sagebrush ecosystems provide a large diversity of habitats and support more than 350 species of vertebrates (Suring et al. 2005). These ecosystems currently make up only about 59 percent of their historical area, and the primary patterns, processes, and components of many sagebrush ecosystems have been significantly altered since Euro-American settlement in the mid-1800s (Knick et al. 2011; Miller et al. 2011). The primary threats to sagebrush ecosystems are well recognized and include large-scale wildfire, invasion of exotic annual grasses, conifer expansion, energy development, conversion to cropland, and urban and exurban development (Coates et al. 2016; Davies et al. 2011; Knick et al. 2011; USDOI FWS 2013). The continued loss and fragmentation of sagebrush habitats has placed many species at risk, including Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter, GRSG), which has been considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act several times (USDOI FWS 2010, 2015) and whose status will be reevaluated in 2020 (USDOI FWS 2015).
Parent Publication
Keywords
sagebrush habitat,
Greater sage-grouse,
resilience,
resistance,
conservation,
restoration,
monitoring,
adaptive management,
climate adaptation,
wildfire,
nonnative invasive plants,
National Seed Strategy,
livestock grazing,
wild horses and burros
Citation
Chambers, Jeanne C.; Prentice, Karen L.; Crist, Michele R. 2019. Overview of the Science Framework [Chapter 1]. In: Crist, Michele R.; Chambers, Jeanne C.; Phillips, Susan L.; Prentice, Karen L.; Wiechman, Lief A., eds. Science framework for conservation and restoration of the sagebrush biome: Linking the Department of the Interior’s Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy to long-term strategic conservation actions. Part 2. Management applications. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-389. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 1-18.
