What is the Resilient Landscapes Resource List?

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.
Practical postfire sagebrush shrub restoration techniques Grant-Hoffman et al. 2021 Fire / Invasives Colorado Plateau Colorado Science Paper 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 Dudley et al. 2021