Fire and rain: ecology of sagebrush steppe communities in southern Idaho

Publication Type:

Magazine Article

Authors:

Hilty, Julie

Source:

Sage Notes, Idaho Native Plant Society, Volume 23, Issue 2, p.6-8 (2000)

Call Number:

U01HIL01IDUS

Keywords:

sagebrush steppe

Abstract:

In recent decades, Idaho's Snake River Plain has undergone a large-scale loss of native sagebrush steppe vegetation. Vast acreages have burned in wildfires (for instance, about 75 percent of the sagebrush steppe vegetation in the Big Desert of eastern Idaho burned between 1996 and 2000). Since sagebrush does not resprout following fire, this has serious ecological implications, including accelerated erosion of topsoil due to depletion of protective cover, and loss of dependable food and cover for wildlife. However, the problem is much more complicated than simply "fire." Conversion from native sagebrush steppe communities has been largely attributed to invasion of exotic annual grasses, such as cheatgrass, changing the way that fire shapes the landscape. To understand the changes, we first need to understand the structure of undisturbed sagebrush steppe communities.