Simulating the cumulative effects of ecological restoration efforts in the Great Basin
The Nature Conservancy of Nevada and Utah
The Great Basin is an important ecoregion in North America for a number of endemic and endangered species. Over the past 120 years, the ecological resiliency of the Great Basin has declined due to the introduction of non-native species and domestic livestock, and the alteration of historic fire regimes. Determining the best use of public funds for ecological restoration is challenging because there is a great degree of uncertainty about the rate of degradation and the effectiveness of restoration efforts. The success of restoration treatment is often unknown because of the long time scales involved and the lack of resources for monitoring.
ESSA assisted the Bureau of Land Management to develop better land management plans at the landscape scale by working with The Nature Conservancy of Nevada to create simulation experiments of alternative land management actions and budgets. Models developed using the Vegetation Dynamics Development Tool (VDDT) indicate that making changes to livestock use policy would have little effect; instead, active restoration is required. Using fire as a tool to maintain native understory where it still persists is predicted to be effective. However, in order to make any long-term improvements in ecological resiliency at the landscape scale, modelling results suggest that restoration budgets would need to be substantially increased over current funding levels. On the other hand, in the absence of current restoration efforts, ecological resilience would decline at a much more rapid rate than is now apparent.
ESSA is currently working with The Nature Conservancy of Utah on a similar project to assess alternative landscape-scale restoration strategies for the Grouse Creek Mountains and Raft River Mountains in northwestern Utah. In this case, the models are spatially explicit and alternative strategies include the allocation of resources towards the creation of fire breaks, the creation of seral complexity for sage grouse habitat, and making the maintenance of existing high quality habitats a priority objective.
Publications
Provencher, L., T. Forbis, L. Frid and G. Medlyn. 2007. Comparing alternative management strategies of fire, grazing, and weed control using spatial modeling. Ecological Modelling 209: 249-263.
[Abstract - off site]
Forbis, T.A., L. Provencher, L. Frid and G. Medlyn. 2006. Great Basin land management planning using ecological modeling. Environmental Management 38(1):62-83.
[PDF - 1 mb]
Presentations
Frid, L., L. Provencher, E. York, G. Green and K. Bryan. 2008. Adapting LANDFIRE vegetation models for restoration planning. Poster presented at the Association for Fire Ecology Regional Conference, Tuscon, AZ, January 28-31, 2008.
[PDF - 1mb]