Free Live-Broadcast Symposium: Impacts of Woodland Expansion at the Society for Range Management Conference
Featuring 20 presentations on reducing woodland expansion!
Conifer Removal Boosts Sage Grouse Success
January 26, 2017
What Do Sage Grouse Do All Winter?
February 1, 2017
When: Jan. 31, 2017 8am – 5 pm MST (part of the SRM Conference, Jan. 29-Feb. 2)
Where: St. George, Utah
Host: Society for Range Management
Click here to view the On-Demand Replay of each presentation
Description: The January 2017 special issue of the Society for Range Management’s signature scientific journal, Rangeland Ecology & Management (REM), presents new research on the impacts of removing conifers in sagebrush and prairie ecosystems. The new issue — “Woody invasion of western rangelands: Using grouse as focal species for ecosystem restoration” — showcases 15 manuscripts on how reducing woodland expansion benefits grouse, wildlife, and people living on rangelands in the American West. Scroll down for links to each research paper in the special woodland expansion issue of Rangeland Ecology & Management.
The SRM’s annual conference will feature a full-day symposium on reducing woodland expansion in the West, based on the journal’s recently-published research studies. Research findings will be presented on Tuesday, January 31 in at the SRM’s 2017 conference, and live-streamed for free here on the Sage Grouse Initiative’s website.
Hosted by Oregon State University’s Rick Miller, a 30+ year veteran of woodland expansion science topics, the full-day symposium will include: new targeting tools for planning your next conifer removal project, rapid sage-grouse recolonization into newly available habitat following conifer removal, enhanced grouse nesting and brood survival rates following cuttings, songbird benefits from conifer removal, and higher water retention on ranches without trees.
Thanks to the Bureau of Land Management, the public can watch these presentations for free here on the SGI website, or access archived presentations for on-demand replays.
Watch the symposium HERE on Jan. 31 or watch on-demand replays after the conference!
Symposium Schedule
Morning Session – Pinyon and Juniper Woodlands in the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau: Natural History, Ecology, and Management
| 8:00 | Two-Hundred Years of Woodland Dynamics in the Intermountain West: climate, fire, grazing, and/or CO2? Richard F. Miller |
| 8:20 | P-J Woodlands And Ecological Site Descriptions: Characteristics Of Woodland Sites. Patti J. Novak-Echenique |
| 8:40 | Historical Composition, Demographics and Fire Regimes for Pinyon-Juniper Vegetation in Utah and Eastern Nevada. Stanley G. Kitchen |
| 9:00 | Fire Patterns in Piñon and Juniper Land Cover Types in the Semiarid Western US (1984-2013). David Board |
| 9:20 | Hydrology and Erosion in Pinyon and Juniper Woodlands of the Great Basin and Implications for Management. C. Jason Williams |
| 9:40 | Break |
| 10:00 | Plant Community and Soil Response to Fuels Reduction Treatments in Upland Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands of the Colorado Plateau. Nichole N. Barger |
| 10:20 | Effects of Pretreatment Tree Dominance and Conifer Removal Treatments on Plant Succession in Sagebrush Communities. Rachel E. Williams |
| 10:40 | Lessons Learned from Studies of Pinyon-Juniper Tree Expansion and Reduction. Bruce A. Roundy |
| 11:00 | Piñon-Juniper Soils Mediate the Impact of Mechanically Shredded Wood on Grasses but Tree Islands Dictate Bacteria. Zachary T. Aanderud | |
| 11:20 | Seeding Pinyon Juniper Woodland Treatments in Utah; Methods and Results. Kevin Gunnell |
Afternoon Session – Impacts of Conifer and Mesquite Encroachment and Management on Grouse in the Intermountain West and Great Plains
| 1:00 | Targeted Woodland Removal to Recover At-Risk Grouse and Their Sagebrush-Steppe and Prairie Ecosystems. Richard F. Miller |
| 1:20 | A Hierarchical Perspective to Woody Plant Encroachment for Conservation of Prairie-Chickens. Sam Fuhlendorf |
| 1:40 | Pinyon and Juniper Encroachment into Sagebrush Ecosystems Impacts Distribution and Survival of Greater Sage-Grouse. Peter S. Coates |
| 2:00 | Encounters with Pinyon-Juniper Influence Riskier Movements in Greater Sage-Grouse Across the Great Basin. Mark A. Ricca |
| 2:20 | Sage-Grouse Response to Conifer Removal in the Great Basin. Jeremy D. Maestas |
| 2:40 | Break | |
| 3:00 | Sage-grouse Groceries: Forb Response to Piñon-Juniper Treatments. Jonathan Bates |
| 3:20 | Extending Conifer Removal And Landscape Protection Strategies From Sage-grouse To Songbirds, A West-wide Assessment. Patrick Donnelly |
| 3:40 | Impact of Mesquite Distribution On Seasonal Space Use Of Lesser Prairie-Chickens. Scott A. Carleton |
| 4:00 | Lesser Prairie-Chicken Avoidance of Trees in a Grassland Landscape. Joseph Lautenbach |
| 4:20 | Ecosystem Water Availability in Juniper versus Sagebrush Snow-Dominated Rangelands. C. Jason Williams |
Rangeland Ecology & Management, Vol, 70. Issue 1 | Woody invasion of western rangelands: Using grouse as focal species for ecosystem restoration
Introduction and Summary
Special Issue: Targeted Woodland Removal to Recover At-Risk Grouse and Their Sagebrush-Steppe and Prairie Ecosystems by Richard F. Miller, David E. Naugle, Jeremy D. Maestas, Christian A. Hagen, Galon Hall
Woodland Expansion Threat
A Hierarchical Perspective to Woody Plant Encroachment for Conservation of Prairie-Chickens by Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Torre J. Hovick, R. Dwayne Elmore, Ashley M. Tanner, David M. Engle, Craig A. Davis
Stay tuned for LPCI’s Science to Solutions summary! Mapping Tree Canopy Cover in Support of Proactive Prairie Grouse Conservation in Western North America by Michael J. Falkowski, Jeffrey S. Evans, David E. Naugle, Christian A. Hagen, Scott A. Carleton, Jeremy D. Maestas, Azad Henareh Khalyani, Aaron J. Poznanovic, Andrew J. Lawrence
Vegetation Response
Sage Grouse Groceries: Forb Response to Piñon-Juniper Treatments by Jonathan D. Bates, Kirk W. Davies, April Hulet, Richard F. Miller, Bruce Roundy
Ecosystem Water Availability
Read SGI’s Science to Solutions summary! Ecosystem Water Availability in Juniper versus Sagebrush Snow-Dominated Rangelands by Patrick R. Kormos, Danny Marks, Frederick B. Pierson, C. Jason Williams, Stuart P. Hardegree, Scott Havens, Andrew Hedrick, Jonathan D. Bates, Tony J. Svejcar
Human Dimensions and Restoration Paradigms
Conserving the Greater Sage-Grouse: A Social-Ecological Systems Case Study from the California-Nevada Region by Alison L. Duvall, Alexander L. Metcalf, Peter S. Coates
The Sage-Grouse Habitat Mortgage: Effective Conifer Management in Space and Time by Chad S. Boyd, Jay D. Kerby, Tony J. Svejcar, Jon D. Bates, Dustin D. Johnson, Kirk W. Davies
Sagebrush Songbirds Response
Bird Responses to Removal of Western Juniper in Sagebrush-Steppe by Aaron L. Holmes, Jeremy D. Maestas, David E. Naugle
Read SGI’s Science to Solutions summary! Extending Conifer Removal and Landscape Protection Strategies from Sage-Grouse to Songbirds, a Range-Wide Assessment by J. Patrick Donnelly, Jason D. Tack, Kevin E. Doherty, David E. Naugle, Brady W. Allred, Victoria J. Dreitz
Sage Grouse Response
Pinyon and Juniper Encroachment into Sagebrush Ecosystems Impacts Distribution and Survival of Greater Sage-Grouse by Peter S. Coates, Brian G. Prochazka, Mark A. Ricca, K. Ben Gustafson, Pilar Ziegler, Michael L. Casazza
Encounters with Pinyon-Juniper Influence Riskier Movements in Greater Sage-Grouse Across the Great Basin by Brian G. Prochazka, Peter S. Coates, Mark A. Ricca, Michael L. Casazza, K. Benjamin Gustafson, Josh M. Hull
Read SGI’s Science to Solutions summary! Short-Term Response of Sage-Grouse Nesting to Conifer Removal in the Northern Great Basin by John P. Severson, Christian A. Hagen, Jeremy D. Maestas, David E. Naugle, J. Todd Forbes, Kerry P. Reese
Greater Sage-Grouse Resource Selection Drives Reproductive Fitness Under a Conifer Removal Strategy by Charles P. Sandford, Michel T. Kohl, Terry A. Messmer, David K. Dahlgren, Avery Cook, Brian R. Wing
Lesser Prairie Chickens Response
Lesser Prairie-Chicken Avoidance of Trees in a Grassland Landscape by Joseph M. Lautenbach, Reid T. Plumb, Samantha G. Robinson, Christian A. Hagen, David A. Haukos, James C. Pitman
Read LPCI’s Science to Solutions summary! Impacts of Mesquite Distribution on Seasonal Space Use of Lesser Prairie-Chickens by Matthew A. Boggie, Cody R. Strong, Daniel Lusk, Scott A. Carleton, William R. Gould, Randy L. Howard, Clay Nichols, Michael Falkowski, Christian Hagen
