Life Sciences Commons^™

Assessing Post-Fire Revegetation Efforts In Box Elder County, Utah, Using The Rangeland Analysis Platform, Rayce Bryan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

After fires occur in western rangelands, land management agencies commonly perform vegetation treatments and reseeding projects. The West Box Elder Coordinated Resource Management Group expressed concern regarding the difficult process of determining outcomes from the many post-fire revegetation projects undertaken on rangeland of Box Elder County, Utah. This research attempted to compile and clarify the fire and treatment history of the county and produce an assessment of the outcomes from each unique post-fire treatment in West Box Elder County. Also produced was a database of post-fire revegetation outcomes in published literature.

Unique treatment polygons were identified and then subset according …

Forecasting Fine Fuels In The Intermountain West Rangelands, Mira Ensley-Field

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of this thesis project was to develop a fine fuels forecast to help fire managers anticipate spatial variation in fuel loads before the start of the fire season. In Chapter 1 we compile and analyze the methodologies of the historical record of fine fuel loads reported to the Great Basin Coordination Center. Based on our data analysis, we developed a series of recommendations for improving the methods used to sample fine fuels in the future as well as more broad ideas for how land managers can use emerging technologies to more effectively monitor fine fuels. In Chapter 2, …

Greater Sage-Grouse Brood Responses To Livestock Grazing In Sagebrush Rangelands, Hailey Peatross Wayment

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The distribution and abundance of the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) have declined in the last 60 years. Range contractions and population declines have been attributed to loss and fragmentation of their sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitats. Grazing by livestock remains the predominant anthropogenic land-use across sagebrush ecosystems in North America, occurring on 87% of remaining sage-grouse habitat. Most of the peer-reviewed literature reports the potential for negative impacts of sagebrush reduction treatments, to increase livestock forage, on sage-grouse habitat. However, few studies have linked livestock grazing at the landscape level to vital rates (e.g., nest initiation rates, …

The Future Of The Big Sagebrush Ecosystem: Plant Community Response To Grazing, Wildfire, And Invasive Annual Grass In A Changing Climate, Margaret Eleanor England

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Climate change is increasingly affecting the plant communities across the world. In the Western United States, these changes are affecting plant communities and their risk of invasive species, as well as the frequency and severity of wildfire. Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) ecosystems of the Western United States are facing threats of increasingly frequent wildfire and invasion of the annual grass cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.), which may be exacerbated by global climate change. Past studies have found cheatgrass to exhibit a positive feedback loop with wildfire, and climate change is expected to facilitate expansion of the cheatgrass …

The Purple Plague: Effect Of High Intensity Grazing Post Fire On Purple Threeawn Cover And Reproductive Effort And Prairie Dog Responses, Justin Roemer

Master's Theses

Purple threeawn (Aristida purpurea Nutt.) is a native warm-season bunchgrass found in western Kansas on The Nature Conservancy’s Smoky Valley Ranch and across rangelands of western North America. Upon reaching maturity, grazing/clipping pressure decreases for this bunchgrass due to poor forage quality and extreme unpalatability for cattle (Bos taurus) and Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). This decrease in grazing/clipping has led to development of near monocultures which cause negative impacts to the prairie ecosystem including decreases in rangeland quality and suitable habitat for prairie dogs, a keystone species. This decrease in prairie dog habitat …

Integrated Management Of Downy Brome (Bromus Tectorum L.) Infested Rangeland, Heather Elwood

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Invasive weed species are a threat to the health and functionality of many rangeland systems. Downy brome (Bromus tectorum) is an invasive annual grass that affects the productivity of rangelands by decreasing the grazing capacity for livestock as well as altering the wildfire cycle and competing against more desirable vegetation for limited resources.

In 2006, an Invasive Plant Management Plan and Environmental Assessment was approved for Dinosaur National Monument, calling for prioritization of invasive species management on high value wildlife habitat, vector areas, and for species with a high ecological impact. The Cub Creek Watershed was identified as a priority …

Autecological And Grazing Control Studies Of Dyers Woad (Isatis Tinctoria L.) On Northern Utah Rangelands, Kassim O. Farah

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Dyers woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) is a noxious weed on northern Utah rangelands. Chemical and mechanical means of control are unsuitable for rangelands. A potential alternative, biological control, is difficult due to a lack of basic ecological information. To remedy this, some aspects of the population biology and autecolgy of dyers woad were studied. The feasibility of controlling dyers woad by early spring grazing was also investigated via clipping experiments.

A population study followed the survivorship of experimentally established populations over two years. Fall germinating individuals (1984) overwintered as rosettes twice and all survivors reproduced successfully. Spring germinating individuals …

Economic Feasibility Of Controlling Big Sagebrush (Artemisia Tridentata) On State And Private Rangelands In Utah, Stan D. Hinckley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Spraying with the chemical herbicide 2,4-D is the most widely used method of controlling big sagebrush. Spraying is very effective in increasing forage production and generally is not poisonous to either man or animals.

Two procedures can be used to calculate the internal rate of return to big sagebrush control: standard and modified discounting. Standard discounting assumes all nonuse costs are incurred in the year of treatment, and the annual income stream is constant throughout the effective life of treatment. Modified discounting correctly assumes the nonuse cost is incurred in the period of deferment, and the income stream does not …