The sagebrush ecosystem spans over 175 million acres in the western United States, and is biologically, culturally, and economically significant to the country. Many disturbances including prolonged drought, pinyon-juniper encroachment, and cycles of invasive grasses and wildfire, pose significant threats to the resilience of the sagebrush biome. To conserve the sagebrush biome and promote community and economic sustainability, the Department of the Interior’s bureaus and offices are working together with many public and private partners to implement a “defend and grow the core” approach to conserve remaining intact sagebrush habitat and ecosystem functions, as well as restore other habitat types which are important to re-establish and maintain the sagebrush ecosystem. To aid in defending and growing the core, we conducted a spatial analysis of current (2017-2020) sagebrush core habitat and growth opportunity areas (Doherty et al. 2022) to identify areas of the sagebrush biome that have high ecological value, resilience to climate change, and existing collaborative partner capacities that facilitate delivery of on-the-ground actions (see "SCRL_Raster.tif"). Using our spatial analysis, we selected areas of the landscape using sub-watershed level polygons (Hydrologic Unit code 12 [HUC 12], Watershed Boundary Dataset) to aid in prioritizing strategic investments in conservation and restoration actions that will “defend and grow the core”. We asked for feedback from tribes, states, and federal resource management agencies to further refine the landscapes to areas of greatest conservation need and collaborative potential. We call these areas "Sagebrush Collaborative Restoration Landscapes" or SCRL (see "SCRL.shp" in SagebrushCollaborativeRestorationLandscapes.zip).

We developed a framework that strategically targets burned areas for restoration actions (e.g., seeding or planting sagebrush) that have the greatest potential to positively benefit Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter sage-grouse) populations through time. Specifically, we estimated sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) recovery following wildfire and risk of non-native annual grass invasion under three scenarios: passive recovery, active restoration with seeding, and active restoration with seedling transplants. We then applied spatial predictions of integrated nest site selection and survival models before wildfire, immediately following wildfire, and at 30 and 50 years post-wildfire based on each restoration scenario and measured changes in habitat. Application of this framework coupled with strategic planting designs aimed at developing patches of nesting habitat may help increase operational resilience for fire-impacted sagebrush ecosystems.

We developed a framework that strategically targets burned areas for restoration actions (e.g., seeding or planting sagebrush) that have the greatest potential to positively benefit Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter sage-grouse) populations through time. Specifically, we estimated sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) recovery following wildfire and risk of non-native annual grass invasion under three scenarios: passive recovery, active restoration with seeding, and active restoration with seedling transplants. We then applied spatial predictions of integrated nest site selection and survival models before wildfire, immediately following wildfire, and at 30 and 50 years post-wildfire based on each restoration scenario and measured changes in habitat. Application of this framework coupled with strategic planting designs aimed at developing patches of nesting habitat may help increase operational resilience for fire-impacted sagebrush ecosystems.

Conservation planning efforts for sagebrush ecosystems of western North America increasingly focus on enhancing operational resilience though decision-support tools that link spatially explicit variation in soil and plant processes to outcomes of biotic and abiotic disturbances spanning large spatial extents. However, failure to consider higher trophic-level fauna (e.g. wildlife) in these tools can hinder efforts to operationalize resilience owing to spatiotemporal lags between slower reorganization of plant and soil processes following disturbance, and faster behavioral and demographic responses of fauna to disturbance. These spatial products provide additional examples for managers of sagebrush ecosystems and greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations in the Great Basin to aid with decisions regarding: 1) wildfire prevention, suppression, and management; and 2) removal of encroaching conifers. These products integrate models of ecological resilience mapped to variation in soil moisture and temperature regimes, wildlife risk and recovery processes, and potential ecological traps with measures of sage-grouse habitat selection and abundance. Please refer to Ricca and Coates (2019) and examples within for further details on methodology.

Conservation planning efforts for sagebrush ecosystems of western North America increasingly focus on enhancing operational resilience though decision-support tools that link spatially explicit variation in soil and plant processes to outcomes of biotic and abiotic disturbances spanning large spatial extents. However, failure to consider higher trophic-level fauna (e.g. wildlife) in these tools can hinder efforts to operationalize resilience owing to spatiotemporal lags between slower reorganization of plant and soil processes following disturbance, and faster behavioral and demographic responses of fauna to disturbance. These spatial products provide additional examples for managers of sagebrush ecosystems and greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations in the Great Basin to aid with decisions regarding: 1) wildfire prevention, suppression, and management; and 2) removal of encroaching conifers. These products integrate models of ecological resilience mapped to variation in soil moisture and temperature regimes, wildlife risk and recovery processes, and potential ecological traps with measures of sage-grouse habitat selection and abundance. Please refer to Ricca and Coates (2019) and examples within for further details on methodology.

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This dataset contains observations used to better understand the initial establishment of sagebrush (Artemisia sp.), in the first 1-2 years post-wildfire. Field data come from 460 sagebrush populations sampled across the Great Basin and many GIS-derived co-variates are included as well.

This dataset contains observations used to better understand the initial establishment of sagebrush (Artemisia sp.), in the first 1-2 years post-wildfire. Field data come from 460 sagebrush populations sampled across the Great Basin and many GIS-derived co-variates are included as well.

Evaluating factors that affect recovery of canopy-forming, foundational species is needed to guide effective treatment implementation aimed at mitigating their loss due to the changing fire regimes being experienced in semi-arid shrub-steppe of the Western USA. Most inferences on factors influencing recovery are based on one-time measurements taken as a snapshot in time, usually focused on the short-term initial establishment phase or outcomes observed decades after. We measured factors associated with the secondary establishment of big sagebrush in nearly 2000 plots across a heterogeneous landscape five years after a megafire (115,000 ha) and the diverse mosaic of restoration treatments implemented and compare these findings to previously published inferences on initial, first-year germination patterns observed on the same plots.