 Assessing Post-Fire Recovery Of Sagebrush Steppe Rangelands In Southeastern Idaho
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Synopsis Rangelands comprise much of the terrestrial earth surface. They are important areas for livestock production, wildlife habitat, a source of clean water, and ecological diversity, not to mention their cultural and historical significance. Rangelands are typified as having relatively low annual precipitation levels (<0.5m) and as a consequence are a brittle environment when compared to the mesic agricultural areas of America's Midwest. Considered part of grassland or desert biomes, rangelands are dominated by grasses and shrubs. This has direct bearing upon geospatial research since the scale of these vegetation types is quite fine compared to vegetation types such as forest. Over the past ten years scientists at Idaho State University (ISU)'s GIS Training and Research Center (GIS TReC) have developed a strong rangeland research program focusing upon temporal land cover change detection and analysis. This research has been funded under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Science Enterprise program since 2000. Through this research, scientists have been able to identify the primary causes of land cover change in rangeland ecosystems (fire, weeds, and urbanization) and develop models that quantify these changes, which have been useful for land management. In 2006 however, one of the GIS TReC's primary study areas was the site of a large lightning-caused wildfire. The 250,000 acre Crystal fire burned approximately 50% of the Big Desert study area including areas where much of the 2006 field sampling had taken place just a few weeks earlier. While this large scale disturbance has the potential to affect the rangeland ecosystem of southeastern Idaho for a decade or more it also presents scientists with a unique opportunity to study and monitor post-fire recovery of this study area. The post-fire recovery study described in this proposal does not seek to simply map the vegetation and land cover as it progresses and changes over time. Given the detailed knowledge of the vegetation community prior to the 2006 Crystal fire (nearly 1000 sample points from 1999-2006) coupled with the study area's intrinsic properties (i.e., a xeric, brittle environment with a relatively low rangeland health index), this study seeks to answer a more compelling question: will the Big Desert shift toward or away from desertification and will the Crystal fire ultimately benefit the rangeland ecosystem of the Big Desert by improving its rangeland health and condition?
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