Wyoming guidelines for managing sagebrush communities with emphasis on fire management

Call Number:

URL:

Keywords:

Abstract:

It is estimated that over 153 million acres of the western United States are dominated by various sagebrush species and that approximately 58,000 square miles (37 million acres) of Wyoming are covered by 13 different types of sagebrush. Such sagebrush communities evolved as dynamic landscapes with climatic and edaphic variation driving changes in fire frequencies, and in adaptive development of different sagebrush species. Investigations indicate the historic sagebrush-steppe ecosystem was a mosaic of successional (age) classes created and maintained by fire regimes ranging in frequency from 10 to 110 years, or more, as well as other factors depending on sagebrush species and specific geographic area. The diversity and juxtaposition of sagebrush community type, age class, and associated vegetative community types provide habitat for approximately 87 species of mammals, 297 species of birds, and 63 species of fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Human-induced fire suppression and repetitive domestic livestock and wild ungulate herbivory have led to successionally advanced ecological stages across the landscape. Prescribed fire, wildland fire use, and herbivory management can be effective tools available to managers for maintaining and enhancing sagebrush types and associated communities. If sagebrush treatments are planned, prescriptions must be carefully designed and tailored to the sagebrush species, herbaceous understory, and associated wildlife species. This paper provides recommendations for landscape-scale management of nine species/subspecies/varieties of sagebrush found in Wyoming: Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis); mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana var. pauciflora); Vasey big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana var. vaseyana); basin big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. tridentata); plains silver sagebrush (Artemisia cana ssp. cana); mountain silver sagebrush (Artemisia cana ssp. viscidula); Wyoming threetip sagebrush (Artemisia tripartita ssp. rupicola); tall threetip sagebrush (Artemisia tripartita ssp. tripartita), and black sagebrush (Artemisia nova).

Notes:

ELECTRONIC FILE - Ecology

Suggested citation: Wyoming Interagency Vegetation Committee. 2002. Wyoming Guidelines for Managing
Sagebrush Communities with Emphasis on Fire Management. Wyoming Game and Fish
Department and Wyoming BLM. Cheyenne, WY. 53 pp. [doc has 54 numbered pages]

SWAP citation (2/19/2016) (without appendices included):
[WIVC] Wyoming Interagency Vegetation Committee. 2002. Wyoming guidelines for managing sagebrush communities with emphasis on fire management. Cheyenne (WY): Wyoming Game and Fish Department. 43 p. [accessed 2015 Nov 23]. http://www.blm.gov/style/medialib/blm/wy/wildlife/docs.Par.8891.File.dat...