In planning and implementing conservation across the sagebrush sea, our partners often find themselves lost in a sea of science and resources. To help our partners access the latest science and tools related to sagebrush, wet meadow, and wetland conservation in the Western U.S., we created a one-stop-shop for these key resources. Use this curated (not exhaustive) list to search and sort resources by region, topic, and resource type to find the resources you need.
Find Science Papers and Resources!
Title
Author
Year
Topic
Region
State
Resource
Summary
Link
Invasive Annual Grass (IAG) Spatial Dataset Compilation and Synthesis
USGS
2022
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Data Source or Tool
The USGS and partners provides guidance on spatial datasets that describe measurable aspects of invasive annual grasses (e.g., biomass or presence) across the western United Stated and beyond. The products developed through this project provide guidance to practitioners, biologists, and natural resource managers tasked with combating the spread of invasive annual grasses.
LANDFIRE
USDA DOI
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Data Source or Tool
This multi-partner program produces consistent, comprehensive, geospatial data and databases that describe vegetation, wildland fuel, and fire regimes across the United States and insular areas.
Fire Effects Information System
USFS
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Data Source or Tool
This database allows users to find fire effects and fire regime information by species common or scientific name.
Rangeland Analysis Platform: Cheatgrass Cover
NRCS, BLM, University of Montana, WAFWA
2022
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Data Source or Tool
This data source shows estimated percent cover of herbaceous annuals at 30m resolution on rangelands across the sagebrush biome during the period 2016-2018.
Burn Severity Portal
USFS, USGS
2021
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Data Source or Tool
This interagency burn severity portal provides comprehensive access to federal burn severity data. Information about the various burn severity mapping programs and access to current and historical data products are provided.
BLM Wildfire Risk Assessment Story Map
BLM
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Data Source or Tool
This ESRI Story Map provides a summary of the methodology, data layer inputs, and data processing techniques used in the BLM Wildfire Risk Assessment. It is intended to be used as a communication tool internally within the BLM and externally with the public.
Basic Fire Facts StoryMap
Great Basin Fire Science Exchange
2021
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Factsheet
This Fire Facts StoryMap was created to provide basic wildfire information, background, terminology, and resources to increase your knowledge and understanding of wildland fire and the ways we can all contribute to better fire outcomes.
Putting Resilience and Resistance Concepts into Practice
Great Basin Fire Science Exchange
2015
Fire / Invasives
Great Basin
Multiple
Factsheet
Land managers are increasingly interested in improving resilience to disturbances, such as wildfire, and resistance to invasive species, such as cheatgrass and medusahead. This factsheet is designed to assist land managers in using resilience and resistance concepts to assess risks, prioritize management activities, and select appropriate treatments.
Rangeland Wildfires and Invasives Endanger Future of Western CommunIties and Economies
Intermountain West Joint Venture, WAFWA
2020
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Factsheet
Fire and invasive annual grasses drive the rapid loss of sagebrush ecosystems year after year. In this factsheet, learn about what needs to be done now to stop this harmful cycle.
Mapping Potential Ecosystem Resilience and Resistance Across Sage-Grouse Range Using Soil Temperature and Moisture Regimes
Sage Grouse Initiative
2012
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Factsheet
This factsheet reviews new data products that map sagebrush resilience and resistance to invasive species, detailing analysis that can be done with these new products.
Invasive Annual Grass Management Toolkit
Western Governors' Association
2020
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Framework or Strategy
This toolkit for invasive grass management includes a roadmap for invasive grass management in the West, case studies highlighting effecive practices in Idaho and Wyoming, and a geospatial data layer to assess invasion.
Western Weed Action Plan
WAFWA
2015
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Framework or Strategy
This multi-agency action plan addresses the challenges and barriers created by the establishment and expansion of invasive plant species in the west.
The Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy Actionable Science Plan
DOI
2016
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Framework or Strategy
The Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy outlined the need for coordinated, science-based adaptive management to achieve long-term protection, conservation, and restoration of the sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystem. A key component of this management approach is the identification of knowledge gaps that limit implementation of effective strategies to meet current management challenges. The tasks and actions identified in the Strategy address several broad topics related to management of the sagebrush ecosystem. This science plan is organized around these topics and specifically focuses on fire, invasive plant species and their effects on altering fire regimes, restoration, sagebrush and greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), and climate and weather.
A Review of Fire Effects On Vegetation and Soils in the Great Basin Region: Response and Ecological Site Characteristics
USGS
2013
Fire / Invasives
Great Basin
Multiple
Report
This review synthesizes the state of knowledge on fire effects on vegetation and soils in semi-arid ecosystems in the Great Basin Region.
Wildfire and Invasive Plant Species in the Sagebrush Biome: Challenges That Hinder Current and Future Management and Protection
WAFWA
2018
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Report
This report is an update of the “Gap Analysis Report”(Gap Report), which summarized the policy, fiscal, and science challenges that land managers have encountered regarding the control and reduction of the invasive annual grass/fire cycle, especially as it related to the 2015 status review for the Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus).
A Conservation Paradox in the Great Basin—Altering Sagebrush Landscapes With Fuel Breaks To Reduce Habitat Loss From Wildfire
USGS
2018
Fire / Invasives
Great Basin
Multiple
Report
This report is intended to provide an initial assessment of both the potential effectiveness of fuel breaks and their ecological costs and benefits.
Mountain Big Sagebrush: Fire Regimes
Northern Rockies Fire Science Networrk
2019
Fire / Invasives
Northern Rockies
Multiple
Research Synthesis or Guide
This report synthesis of information on historical patterns and contemporary changes in fuels and fire regimes in mountain big sagebrush communities (Innes and Zouhar 2018) is available in the Fire Effects Information System (FEIS).
A Field Guide for Rapid Assessment of Post-Wildfire Recovery Potential in Sagebrush and Pinyon-Juniper Ecosystems in the Great Basin
Rocky Mountain Research Station
2015
Fire / Invasives
Great Basin
Multiple
Research Synthesis or Guide
This field guide provides a framework for rapidly evaluating post-fire resilience to disturbance, or recovery potential, and resistance to invasive annual grasses, and for determining the need and suitability of the burned area for seeding.
Guide For Quantifying Fuels in the Sagebrush Steppe and Juniper Woodlands of the Great Basin
USGS
2009
Fire / Invasives
Great Basin
Multiple
Research Synthesis or Guide
This guide provides the necessary landscape-level inputs required by fire behavior and fire effects models along with building custom fuelbeds. Through the use of photographs and tables with the range
of values for each vegetation type, a user should be able to quickly appraise their site by fuel stratum.
Preemergent Herbicide Protection Seed Coating: A Promising New Restoration Tool
Holfus et al.
2021
Fire / Invasives
Other
Other
Science Paper
The authors tested the efficacy of activated carbon-based herbicide protection coatings applied to individual bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata [Pursh] A. Love) seeds for protecting seedlings from injury associated with pre-emergent herbicide (imazapic) application in a laboratory environment.
Long-term evaluation of restoring understories in Wyoming big sagebrush communities with mowing and seeding native bunchgrasses
Davies et al.
2021
Fire / Invasives
Great Basin
Oregon
Science Paper
This study evaluated the effects of mowing followed by drill-seeding treatments of large native perennial bunchgrasses in southeastern Oregon for 11 yr post treatment. to address impacts on cover, density, and biological soil crusts.
The authors investigated management-friendly restoration techniques aimed at increasing sagebrush cover in a sagebrush system important to Gunnison sage-grouse and impacted by fire in western Colorado.
Herbicide Protection Pods (HPPs) Facilitate Sagebrush and Bunchgrass Establishment under Imazapic Control of Exotic Annual Grasses
Clenet et al.
2020
Fire / Invasives
Great Basin
Oregon
Science Paper
To assess efficacy of revegetation strategies for exotic annual grass-invaded rangelands after wildfire, this study evaluated the use of herbicide protection pods to protect native plant seeds from herbicides during seeding.
Restoring Perennial Grasses in Medusahead Habitat: Role of Tilling, Fire, Herbicides, and Seeding Rate
Schantz et al.
2019
Fire / Invasives
Great Basin
Idaho
Science Paper
In this study, the authors evaluated the independent and combined inputs of tilling, burning, applying imazapic herbicide, and varying seeding rates on existing species and seeded native perennial grass performance from 2008 to 2012 in a southwestern Idaho rangeland ecosystem.
Resilience and Resistance of Sagebrush Ecosystems: Implications for State and Transition Models and Management Treatments.
Chambers et al.
2014
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Science Paper
The authors used Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project data to test predictions on effects of fire vs. mechanical treatments on resilience and resistance for three site types exhibiting cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) invasion and/or piñon and juniper expansion.
Climate Change in Western US Deserts: Potential for Increased Wildfire and Invasive Annual Grasses
Abatzoglou et al.
2011
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Science Paper
The authors used a suite of downscaled climate projections for the mid–21st century to examine changes in critical physiological temperature thresholds, the timing and availability of moisture, and the potential for large wildfires.
Limitations to Postfire Seedling Establishment: The Role of Seeding Technology, Water Availability, and Invasive Plant Abundance
Jeremy et al.
2010
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Science Paper
The objective of this study was to determine the degree to which water availability, invasive plant abundance, and seeding technology influence postfire seedling establishment.
Synthesis Paper: Assessment of Research on Rangeland Fire as a Management Practice
Limb et al.
2016
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Science Paper
The authors reviewed and summarized current literature on prescribed fire as a global management practice.
Fire frequency impacts soil properties and processes in sagebrush steppe ecosystems of the Columbia Basin
Nichols et al.
2021
Fire / Invasives
Other
Other
Science Paper
This study evaluated how increased fire frequency affects soil biochemical properties (i.e. soil pH, soil organic matter (SOM), soil organic carbon (SOC), soil structure and mineral N) and processes (i.e. microbial and enzymatic activity) in a sagebrush-steppe ecosystem located in the Columbia Plateau Ecoregion, Washington, USA.
Annual Herbaceous Cover across Rangelands of the Sagebrush Biome
Maestas et al.
2020
Fire / Invasives
Rangewide
Multiple
Science Paper
Here, the authors leverage three large-scale datasets to provide land managers with a product estimating the recent extent (2016-2018) of annuals across western rangelands, combining data from the Rangeland Analysis Platform (Jones et al. 2018), US Geological Survey (USGS) Harmonized Landsate and Sentinel (Pastick et al. 2020, Pastick et al. in prep) and USGS National Land Cover Database (Rigge et al. 2020).
Wildfire, climate, and invasive grass interactions negatively impact an indicator species by reshaping sagebrush ecosystems
Coates et al.
2015
Fire / Invasives
Great Basin
Multiple
Science Paper
Within a Bayesian framework, the authors modeled 30 y of wildfire and climatic effects on population rates of change of a sagebrush-obligate species, the greater sage-grouse, across the Great Basin of western North America.
Integrated Management of Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) with Sheep Grazing and Herbicide
Lehnhoff et al.
2019
Fire / Invasives
Great Basin
Oregon
Science Paper
The authors assessed the efficacy of herbicide application, targeted sheep grazing and integrated herbicide and grazing on for controlling cheatgrass and the impacts on plant communities in rangeland in southwestern Montana from 2015 until 2017.
Ecological effects of prescribed fire on a sagebrush-steppe rangeland
Elliot et al.
2020
Fire / Invasives
Great Basin
Idaho
Science Paper
This data publication contains data from a study trying to quantify prescribed fire impacts on surface and belowground changes at a sagebrush site near Red Mountain, Idaho.
Fire and Grazing Influence Site Resistance to Bromus tectorum Through Their Effects on Shrub, Bunchgrass and Biocrust Communities in the Great Basin (USA)
Condon et al.
2018
Fire / Invasives
Great Basin
Multiple
Science Paper
To assess the impacts of fire on cheatgrass, native vegetation, and lichens and mosses, the authors assessed cover of Bromus tectorum, shrubs, native bunchgrasses, lichens and mosses in 99 burned and unburned plots located on similar soils where fires occurred between 12 and 23 years before sampling.
Selective herbicide control: using furrows and carbon seed coatings to establish a native bunchgrass while reducing cheatgrass cover
Terry et al.
2021
Fire / Invasives
Other
Other
Science Paper
This study evaluated two approaches to protect native seeds from herbicides that could allow for the restoration of a native species Pseudoroegneria spicata while reducing an invasive annual grass Bromus tectorum with a herbicide mixture in the sagebrush steppe ecosystem (the United States).
Insect communities in big sagebrush habitat are altered by wildfire and post-fire restoration seeding
Rohde et al.
2019
Fire / Invasives
Great Basin
Idaho
Science Paper
The authors conducted the first investigation of insect community responses to post-fire seeding on public rangelands by comparing the composition of insect communities at burned-and-seeded (treatment) and burned-and-unseeded (control) sagebrush-steppe ecological sites in southwestern Idaho.
Assessing ecosystem threats from global and regional change: hierarchical modeling of risk to sagebrush ecosystems from climate change, land use and invasive species in Nevada, USA
Bradley, B. A.
2010
Fire / Invasives
Great Basin
Nevada
Science Paper
The author modeled risk to sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems in the state of Nevada, USA from climate change, land use/land cover change, and species invasion, identifying areas most at risk frorm these threats.
A chemical and bio-herbicide mixture increased exotic invaders, both targeted and non-targeted, across a diversely invaded landscape after fir
Lazarus et al.
2021
Fire / Invasives
Great Basin
Idaho
Science Paper
USGS researchers investigated how exotic and native plant functional groups, species diversity, and a cheatgrass pathogen (Ustilago bullata) responded to a prescribed burn and herbicide treatment targeting exotic annual grasses.
A warmer and drier climate in the northern sagebrush biome does not promote cheatgrass invasion or change its response to fire
Larson et al.
2017
Fire / Invasives
Northern Rockies
Montana
Science Paper
The authors tested impacts of warming and drying on expansion of cheatgrass with a factorial experiment with two levels of burning (spring burn and none) and three climate treatments (warming, warming + drying, and control) that was repeated over 3 years in a Montana sagebrush steppe.
Large-scale wildfire reduces population growth in a peripheral population of sage-grouse