Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Cheatgrass (Bromus Tectorum) Distribution In The Intermountain Western United States And Its Relationship To Fire Frequency, Seasonality, And Ignitions, Bethany A. Bradley, Caroline A. Curtis, Emily J. Fusco, John T. Abatzoglou, Jennifer K. Balch, Sepideh Dadashi, Mao-Ning Tuanmu
Cheatgrass (Bromus Tectorum) Distribution In The Intermountain Western United States And Its Relationship To Fire Frequency, Seasonality, And Ignitions, Bethany A. Bradley, Caroline A. Curtis, Emily J. Fusco, John T. Abatzoglou, Jennifer K. Balch, Sepideh Dadashi, Mao-Ning Tuanmu
Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series
Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is an invasive grass pervasive across the Intermountain Western US and linked to major increases in fire frequency. Despite widespread ecological impacts associated with cheatgrass, we lack a spatially extensive model of cheatgrass invasion in the Intermountain West. Here, we leverage satellite phenology predictors and thousands of field surveys of cheatgrass abundance to create regional models of cheatgrass distribution and percent cover. We compare cheatgrass presence to fire probability, fire seasonality and ignition source. Regional models of percent cover had low predictive power (34% of variance explained), but distribution models based on a threshold of …
Characterizing The Landscape Dynamics Of An Invasive Plant And Risk Of Invasion Using Remote Sensing, Bethany Bradley, John F. Mustard
Characterizing The Landscape Dynamics Of An Invasive Plant And Risk Of Invasion Using Remote Sensing, Bethany Bradley, John F. Mustard
Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series
Improved understanding of the spatial dynamics of invasive plant species may lead to more effective land management and reduced future invasion. Here, we identified the spatial extents of nonnative cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) in the north central Great Basin using remotely sensed data from Landsat MSS, TM, and ETM+. We compared cheatgrass extents in 1973 and 2001 to six spatially explicit landscape variables: elevation, aspect, hydrographic channels, cultivation, roads, and power lines. In 2001, Cheatgrass was 10% more likely to be found in elevation ranges from 1400 to 1700 m (although the data suggest a preferential invasion into lower elevations by …