Managing for resilience to fire and resistance to annual grass invasion in upland sagebrush steppe: John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

Shinderman, Matt; Hovland, Matt; Oedekerk, Corrinne; Lamet, Amber; Rodhouse, Thomas

Sagebrush steppe ecosystems have been described as one of the most imperiled ecosystems in North America due to a combination of threats from human and ecological factors (Noss et al. 1995, Davies et al. 2011, Davies et al. 2012). Degradation of sagebrush steppe has led to declining abundance and productivity of endemic floral and faunal assemblages, soil system health, and ecological functions within and outside protected area boundaries across the western United States. Published assessments (e.g., Caicco et al. 1995, Stoms et al. 1998) of the amount of healthy, intact sagebrush and bunchgrass steppe in western American protected areas have reported that steppe ecosystems are not well represented in the protected-area network of the US, underscoring concerns for preserving these resources for future generations, and underscoring the value of NPS units that contain and manage steppe communities. Consistent with widespread concern for these ecosystems, the Pacific West Region (DOI Unified Regions 8, 9, 10, and 12) of the National Park Service (NPS) has asked a team of experts from Oregon State University and NPS to synthesize best-available science about resilience to fire and other stressors and resistance to weed invasion into management guidance documents and geodatabases for each of the 8 parks in the region that contain and are managing significant amounts of sagebrush steppe. These parks are Big Hole National Battlefield (BIHO), City of Rocks National Reserve (CIRO), Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve (CRMO), Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument (HAFO), John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (JODA), Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area (LARO) in the Upper Columbia Basin Network; Great Basin National Park (GRBA) in the Mojave Network; and Lava Beds National Monument (LABE) in the Klamath Network. Vegetation monitoring is occurring in all of these parks as part of the NPS vital signs monitoring program. The Upper Columbia Basin Network is targeting sagebrush steppe as a distinct vital sign for monitoring, whereas sagebrush steppe is integrated into a more general upland vegetation monitoring program in the other two networks. Several of these parks, notably JODA, have also pursued use of prescribed fire, and fire effects monitoring has occurred in JODA for ~20 years. Inventories of soils, vegetation, and natural resource condition have been conducted in all of these parks as part of the NPS Natural Resources Challenge (12 basic inventories). Findings from all of these inventory and monitoring activities provide the central place-based information for the syntheses and geodatabases. The broader scientific literature about sagebrush steppe ecology and about resilience to fire and resistance to annual grass invasion establish the theoretical and conceptual foundations for this syntheses and associated geodatabases.

Managing for resilience to fire and resistance to annual grass invasion in upland sagebrush steppe: John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

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