Greater sage-grouse habitat suitability 15-years post simulated fire event and non-targeted sagebrush transplants (2015-2030)

Description

Here, we present greater sage-grouse nesting habitat suitability 15-years after simulating a fire and planting of sagebrush. The planting design used here reflects a single-year (maximum-effort; me) habitat restoration effort where we used several small (ss) patches with low density (ld) planting of sagebrush. The planting was not targeted for nesting habitat, and the data reflects simulated habitat conditions in 2030. To assess the degree to which transplanting sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) could quickly restore former sage-grouse habitat and the strategies by which greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter, sage-grouse) habitat restoration is best accomplished, we linked vegetation transitions with habitat selection models to evaluate habitat recovery. Within our modeling extent (Tuscarora, Nevada), we simulated the fire-induced loss of habitat, planting of sagebrush seedlings, and the regrowth of sagebrush and other vegetation over 15 years. We used sagebrush growth equations and vegetation state transitions to return and grow vegetation within the burned and planted areas. Every year, we updated seasonal sage-grouse habitat selection maps by re-applying pre-fire habitat selection equations to re-calculate the proportion of suitable habitat gained by sagebrush restoration efforts. We evaluated alternative planting designs to identify the key factors influencing habitat selection outcomes. Specifically, we varied the number of plants, patch sizes, densities, location of planting sites (i.e., random versus within sage-grouse nesting habitat), as well as post-transplant (30, 70, or 100%) survival. We assumed all planting occurred in a single year. We ranked the influence of these different planting factors on sage-grouse habitat recovery across restoration scenario. The following data reflect nesting habitat conditions 15-years after a simulated fire and sagebrush revegetation. Here, we provide the habitat recovery results for one of many different planting designs assessed for this project.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
55 The metadata original format https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/metadata/USGS.5e7e1145e4b01d50927522e2.xml
55 Landing page for access to the data https://doi.org/10.5066/P9CGAY9L

Tags

  • environment
  • vegetation-restoration
  • greater-sage-grouse
  • vegetation-transition
  • biota
  • habitat-selection
  • sagebrush
  • united-states
  • fire
  • nv
  • transplant
  • tuscarora
  • planting-design
  • usgs-5e7e1145e4b01d50927522e2
  • state-and-transition-model
  • nevada

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