Sagebrush Obligate Mammals

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Sagebrush, Sensitive Species And Fire
SENSITIVE SPECIES, SAGESBRUSH and FIRE S
Brad Schultz Extension Educator UNCE Winnemucca,
NV
Brad Schultz Extension Educator University Of
Nevada Cooperative Extension Winnemucca, NV
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Wildlife in Sagebrush-Grass Communities

• 100 bird species
• 70 mammal species
• 40 reptile species

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Sagebrush Obligates

• Sage Grouse
• Sage Sparrow
• Brewers Sparrow
• Sage Thrasher

• Pygmy Rabbit
• Sagebrush Vole
• Pronghorn
• Sagebrush Lizard ?

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Sagebrush Near Obligates

• 33 avian species
• 19 mammalian species
• ?? Reptilian species

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Sagebrush Obligate MammalsStructure Requirements
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Shrub-Nesting Sagebrush Obligates
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Vegetation Heterogeneity
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Patchiness Is Not Always Present
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States And Succession Pathways
Shrub-herbaceous state
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Shrub state
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Sagebrush and Fire

• 30.5 Million acres of sagebrush or potential
  sagebrush habitat in Nevada
• Annual production on sagebrush sites varies by
  over 20 fold
• 100 to gt 2,000 lbs/ac
• Standing and down biomass can be very large
• 5 oz/ft2 13,612 lb/ac

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Biomass is Always Consumed

• Decomposers
• Fauna
• Livestock
• Human
• Wildfire
• Annually unpredictable for season, size,
  duration, or intensity
• Combination of ignition potential, biomass, fuel
  continuity, and appropriate burning conditions

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Sagebrush and Fire Frequency

• If average fire size was 50 ac and typical
  burning season was from June 15-Sept 15, then

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Four General Fuel Situations

• Cheatgrass monoculture with frequent reburn
• Desired shrubs and grasses never get a chance to
  return to the site
• Harsh biophysical constraints must also be
  overcome

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General Fuel Situation

• Mature sagebrush present
• No/few perennial grasses in understory
• Continuous understory of annual grasses
• Very flammable
• Rapid spread across large areas

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General Fuel Situation

• Unburned Islands
• Important short and midterm habitat for sagebrush
  dependent species
• How do we keep these and surrounding burned area
  from burning in the next 25-50 years?
• Return sagebrush to perennial grassland in
  reasonable timeframe

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General Fuel Situation

• Large stands of mature sagebrush with perennial
  herbaceous understory
• Keep Ecological resilience in these stands
• Prevent large fires from consuming too much of
  the landscape in a short period

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Biomass Is Not Everything
Fuel continuity Ignition potential are important
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What Do We Preserve or Maintain?
No

• Physical Entities
• vs
• Ecological
• Processes

Resilience
Resilience
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Tools Not Always Used Properly
Fuel breaks and livestock are effective tools,
but tools must be used properly, both
individually and in concert with one another
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Use Tools Properly
Must consider animal type, season of use,
duration of use, defoliation frequency and
intensity
Removing/decreasing heavy fuels is only effective
if fine fuel continuity is addressed. Herbicides
must often accompany other tools.
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Multi-Phase Restoration

• Assisted succession does not accurately reflect
  the resources and/or sequence of steps required.
• Return to a functional system will take decades
  to centuries
• Were talking decades to centuries thats more
  than an assist

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Scale

• The effect of management action or inaction, and
  ecological process and mechanisms are scale
  dependent and landscape specific
• Size
• Shape
• Density
• Dispersion
• Connectivity
• Context of the situation

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Constraints

• Social/political
• Legal
• Policy
• Regulation
• Biological
• Physical

How do we make these work for us instead of
against us
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Conclusions

• One size fits all approaches will not work
• We must understand the bio-physical constraints
  of the different landscape settings and work
  within the appropriate spatial and temporal
  scales, and ecological hierarchy.
• Maximum flexibility is essential
• Ecologically, socially, politically and legally
• Preserving ecological processes is the only
  possible way to maintain sagebrush communities
  across time
• Resilience vs physical presence

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Conclusions

• Societys demands for resources requires a
  pro-active approach to vegetation/landscape
  management
• Large scale landscape architecture
• Biomass will always be harvested
• Do we control the outcome as much as possible, or
  do we let the outcome control us?

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Questions or Comments