Climate change effects on post-fire restoration in the Great Basin
Along with increases in temperature, climate change is expected to bring about significant changes in the timing and amount of precipitation in the Great Basin. In the water-limited ecosystem of the Great Basin, the success of restoration treatments hinges on the timing and amount of precipitation. Failed treatments lead to dominance of Bromus tectorum and increased size and frequency of wildfires. Thus, altered precipitation has real potential to diminish the effectiveness of post-fire restoration and the health of the landscape if techniques are not adapted to the changing climate. Seed mixes and land treatments that can effectively inhibit the dominance of Bromus tectorum under future climates need to be identified in order to prepare for climate change.
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Our GoalThe complexity of ecological interactions makes it impossible to predict how a plant community will respond to altered precipitation. We manipulate precipitation on burned areas to determine how precipitation might change the trajectory of a restoration treatment. We aim to understand the biological and ecological responses of various forb and grass species and identify the best treatments under future climates.
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Agropyron cristatum outcompetes Bromus tectorum
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The Research
We have set up rainout and temperature shelters to examine climate effects on ecosystem recovery on burned areas in Idaho and Nevada. One project was set up on the 2016 Monroe Fire near Winnemucca, NV. The fire was sprayed with herbicide in 2016 and then drill seeded in 2017 with a mixture of native and non-native perennial grasses.
To manipulate precipitation, we built rainout shelters that excludes 50% of the precipitation over a 3x3 meter plot. The captured water is then pumped onto an adjacent plot for a 50% addition of water. The precipitation manipulation was divided into spring (March-June) and summer-early fall (July-October) treatments in order to capture the uncertainty of future climate models in the Great Basin. Because of an inconsistent application of herbicide, we paired these precipitation treatments on adjacent herbicide and non-herbicide plots to monitor how the herbicide treatment interacts with changes in precipitation. Within each treatment, we established an annual forb seeding treatment (Amsinckia intermedia, Lagophylla ramossisima) and a perennial forb seeding treatment (Lupinus argenteus, Sphaeralcea coccinea). We monitored plant cover and seeded species density to quantify the effects of altered precipitation scenarios.
Future experiments are being developed to examine the effects of drought and altered precipitation on reseeding efforts on other wildfires.
To manipulate precipitation, we built rainout shelters that excludes 50% of the precipitation over a 3x3 meter plot. The captured water is then pumped onto an adjacent plot for a 50% addition of water. The precipitation manipulation was divided into spring (March-June) and summer-early fall (July-October) treatments in order to capture the uncertainty of future climate models in the Great Basin. Because of an inconsistent application of herbicide, we paired these precipitation treatments on adjacent herbicide and non-herbicide plots to monitor how the herbicide treatment interacts with changes in precipitation. Within each treatment, we established an annual forb seeding treatment (Amsinckia intermedia, Lagophylla ramossisima) and a perennial forb seeding treatment (Lupinus argenteus, Sphaeralcea coccinea). We monitored plant cover and seeded species density to quantify the effects of altered precipitation scenarios.
Future experiments are being developed to examine the effects of drought and altered precipitation on reseeding efforts on other wildfires.