United States Joint Fire Science Program
Joint Fire Science Program Briefs (2007-2012)
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Date of this Version
2008
Document Type
Article
Citation
Fire Science Brief, Issue 27, December 2008
Abstract
Sagebrush steppe has been rapidly changing into woodlands of western juniper and pinyon pine since Euroamerican settlement of the West in the middle of the nineteenth century. The change from the dry scattered shrub and grasslands to woodlands has changed more than plants—it has also changed the fi re regime. Studies have revealed a threshold at which understory plants may not rebound after a disturbance—when trees have reached 40- to 50-percent cover. Disturbance—by fi re and overgrazing—also makes resources such as nutrients and soil water available for weeds to exploit, allowing invasives such as cheatgrass to establish and expand into sagebrush lands. The presence of native, perennial herbaceous plants help a landscape resist weed invasion, and measures to prevent initial establishment by weeds such as cheatgrass may be as, or more effective than reducing or eliminating established populations.
Included in
Forest Biology Commons, Forest Management Commons, Other Forestry and Forest Sciences Commons, Wood Science and Pulp, Paper Technology Commons
Comments
US government work.