Disturbance Response Groups & Ecological Sites Tamzen Stringham, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Disturbance Response Groups & Ecological Sites Tamzen Stringham, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Sep 23, 2023 137 likes •421 views

Landscape-Scale Management Planning: Disturbance Response Groups & Ecological Sites Tamzen Stringham, Patti Novak-Echenique, Paul Blackburn Scale Issues & Ecosites MLRA 25 9.6+ million ac 69 eco sites MLRA 28B & 28A

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Landscape-Scale Management Planning: Disturbance Response Groups & Ecological Sites

Tamzen Stringham, Patti Novak-Echenique, Paul Blackburn

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SLIDE 2

Scale Issues & Ecosites

  • MLRA 25

– 9.6+ million ac – 69 eco sites

  • MLRA 28B & 28A

– 18.7+ million ac – 160+ eco sites

  • MLRA 24

– 7.6+ million ac – 54 eco sites

  • MLRA 23

– 3.6+ million ac

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SLIDE 3

2011 2012 MLRA Acres Burned 23 724 793,333 24 112,809 80,383 25 39,352 145,331 28B 2,290 107,909

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SLIDE 4

Greater Sage Grouse Habitat

Oregon

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Planning Challenges Core Habitat > 1 million acres 2 MLRA’s 2 States; multiple BLM Offices Budgets

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SLIDE 6

Developing Disturbance Response Groups

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Disturbance Response Groups Key Concepts

  • Group of ES’s that respond similarly to…….

– Rate of response may vary – End point is same

  • STM is essentially the same
  • ‘Ecological Dynamics’ describes minor

differences

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SLIDE 8

At-Risk Phase

Plant Community Phase State A State C State B

At-Risk Phase

Threshold

State-and-Transition MODEL

Ecological Process Based Model

MINIMUM SCALE FOR STATE = ECOLOGICAL SITE Restoration

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STM Development Process Disturbance Response Groups

  • Assemble the core TEAM
  • Invite others to participate in office /

field events

  • Teach the STM concepts to the core

TEAM

– Multiple times; office & field

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SLIDE 10

Experience

Range / Plant Soils Range / Plant Range Ecologist / STM GIS

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What is “process-based” thinking?

  • Understanding that what we see is created by the

functional capacity of ecological processes

  • STMs describe ecological dynamics
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What is “process-based thinking?

  • What is driving the creation and maintenance
  • f what I see?
  • Process = amount per time (rate)

– Infiltration rate – Nutrient cycling – Energy capture – Soil erosion – Etc.

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Ecological Dynamics

Response to Disturbance

  • Response to disturbances

– Specie specific?

  • Know individual plant response

– Dynamic soil properties

  • Vary by soil texture?
  • Resilience

– Climate – Soils – Plants

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SLIDE 14

STM Development Process Disturbance Response Groups

  • MLRA or LRU scale

– Build understanding of the climate, soils, plants

  • Soil scientist teach geology, soils, etc
  • GIS specialist create data layers of soil map

units; fire events; roads; public / private land; etc.

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SLIDE 15

STM Development Process

  • Range sites

– Describe Reference Condition = State 1

– Describes landscape, climate, soils, plants, production – Describes response to disturbance

  • Team analyzes each site & determines

how it responds to disturbance

  • Group sites
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STM Development Process Disturbance Response Groups

  • Grouping process leads to building blocks

for STM

– Discussion involves

  • Soils and soil differences within groups

– resilience

  • Plant species response to numerous disturbances
  • Response to repeated disturbance
  • Modal site

– greatest amount of acres mapped or – typical disturbance response of the group

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Scale Issues & Ecosites

  • MLRA 25

– 69 eco sites – 12 DRG’s – 115 field notes

  • MLRA 28B & 28A

– 160+ eco sites – 32 DRG’s – 310 field notes

  • MLRA 24

– 54 eco sites – 11 DRG’s – 74 field notes

  • MLRA 23

– 85 eco sites – 24 DRG’s – 78 field notes to-date

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MLRA 24 NV

Disturbance Response Groups

Group 1 ≈ 1.9 M ac Wyoming Sage Loamy 8-10 Modal ≈ 1.0 M ac Group 2 ≈ 1.6 M ac Salt Desert Shrub Loamy 5-8 Modal ≈ 1.5 M ac

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Sagebrush Cover Change

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1990-2012 80% of ranch has burned 1 time; 30% 2 times; 9% 3 times

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Cost of Rehabilitation Seeding = $1 million

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Cobbly Claypan Claypan 12-16

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SLIDE 23
  • 1. What phase

before fire?

  • 2. Management

after fire? 2.2a = with time Sagebrush will Re-establish

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200 400 600 800 1000 1200 Control Dormant Growing Pounds per acre Treatment

Average Annual Production by Functional Group Squaw Valley 2014

Sandberg bluegrass Annual Grass Perennial Grass Forbs

  • 600
  • 400
  • 200

200 400 600 Control Dormant Growing Plants per hectare Treatment

Squaw Valley Live Shrub Density 2014

Green rabbitbrush Rubber rabbitbrush Low sagebrush Big sagebrush Kochia

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Conclusion

  • DRG’s Landscape Scale / ES scale model
  • Incorporate Expert Knowledge & Data
  • STM robust tool for decision making
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SLIDE 26
  • Wildlife habitat
  • Monitoring – BLM AIM strategy
  • Grazing Management
  • Emergency Stabilization / Monitoring
  • Drought Decisions

Management Applications

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SLIDE 27

Timeline

  • MLRA 24 Models: Complete

– tstringham@cabnr.unr.edu

  • MLRA 25 Models: June 30, 2015
  • MLRA 28A and 28B: Complete
  • MLRA 23NV: underway
  • MLRA 26: underway
  • MLRA 23 Oregon: Complete

– tstringham@cabnr.unr.edu