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Utah State University

Articles

Mechanical treatments

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Plant Sciences

Vegetation, Hydrologic, And Erosion Responses Of Sagebrush Steppe 9 Yr Following Mechanical Tree Removal, Christopher Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Patrick R. Kormos, Osama Z. Al-Hamdan, Sayjro K. Nouwakpo, Mark A. Weltz Sep 2018

Vegetation, Hydrologic, And Erosion Responses Of Sagebrush Steppe 9 Yr Following Mechanical Tree Removal, Christopher Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Patrick R. Kormos, Osama Z. Al-Hamdan, Sayjro K. Nouwakpo, Mark A. Weltz

Articles

Land managers across the western United States are faced with selecting and applying tree-removal treatments on pinyon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) woodland-encroached sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) rangelands, but current understanding of long-term vegetation and hydrological responses of sagebrush sites to tree removal is inadequate for guiding management. This study applied a suite of vegetation and soil measures (0.5 − 990 m2), small-plot rainfall simulations (0.5 m2), and overland flow experiments (9 m2) to quantify the effects of mechanical tree removal (tree cutting and mastication) on vegetation, runoff, and erosion at …


Resilience And Resistance Of Sagebrush Ecosystems: Implications For State And Transition Models And Management Treatments, Jeanne C. Chambers, Richard F. Miller, David I. Board, David A. Pyke, Bruce A. Roundy, James B. Grace, Eugene W. Schupp, Robin J. Tausch Feb 2015

Resilience And Resistance Of Sagebrush Ecosystems: Implications For State And Transition Models And Management Treatments, Jeanne C. Chambers, Richard F. Miller, David I. Board, David A. Pyke, Bruce A. Roundy, James B. Grace, Eugene W. Schupp, Robin J. Tausch

Articles

In sagebrush ecosystems invasion of annual exotics and expansion of piñon (Pinus monophylla Torr. and Frem.) and juniper (Juniperus occidentalis Hook., J. osteosperma [Torr.] Little) are altering fire regimes and resulting in large-scale ecosystem transformations. Management treatments aim to increase resilience to disturbance and enhance resistance to invasive species by reducing woody fuels and increasing native perennial herbaceous species. We used Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project data to test predictions on effects of fire vs. mechanical treatments on resilience and resistance for three site types exhibiting cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) invasion and/or piñon and juniper expansion: 1) …


Piñon-Juniper Reduction Increases Soil Water Availability Of The Resource Growth Pool, Bruce A. Roundy, Kert Young, Nathan Cline, April Hulet, Richard F. Miller, Robin J. Tausch, Jeanne C. Chambers, Benjamin Rau Sep 2014

Piñon-Juniper Reduction Increases Soil Water Availability Of The Resource Growth Pool, Bruce A. Roundy, Kert Young, Nathan Cline, April Hulet, Richard F. Miller, Robin J. Tausch, Jeanne C. Chambers, Benjamin Rau

Articles

Managers reduce piñon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) trees that are encroaching on sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) communities to lower fuel loads and increase cover of desirable understory species. All plant species in these communities depend on soil water held at &spigt; -1.5 MPa matric potential in the upper 0.3 m of soil for nutrient diffusion to roots and major growth in spring (resource growth pool). We measured soil water matric potentials and temperatures using gypsum blocks and thermocouples buried at 0.01–0.3 m on tree, shrub, and interspace microsites to characterize the seasonal soil climate of 13 …


Understory Cover Responses To Piñon-Juniper Treatments Across Tree Dominance Gradients In The Great Basin, Bruce A. Roundy, Richard F. Miller, Robin J. Tausch, Kert Young, April Hulet, Benjamin Rau, Brad Jessop, Jeanne C. Chambers, Dennis Eggett Sep 2014

Understory Cover Responses To Piñon-Juniper Treatments Across Tree Dominance Gradients In The Great Basin, Bruce A. Roundy, Richard F. Miller, Robin J. Tausch, Kert Young, April Hulet, Benjamin Rau, Brad Jessop, Jeanne C. Chambers, Dennis Eggett

Articles

Piñon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) trees are reduced to restore native vegetation and avoid severe fires where they have expanded into sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) communities. However, what phase of tree infilling should treatments target to retain desirable understory cover and avoid weed dominance? Prescribed fire and tree felling were applied to 8–20-ha treatment plots at 11 sites across the Great Basin with a tree-shredding treatment also applied to four Utah sites. Treatments were applied across a tree infilling gradient as quantified by a covariate tree dominance index (TDI = tree cover/[tree + shrub + …