Vegetation change and anthropogenic development are altering ecosystems and decreasing biodiversity. Successful management of ecosystems threatened by multiple stressors requires development of ecosystem conservation plans rather than single species plans. We selected the big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) ecosystem to demonstrate this approach. The area occupied by the sagebrush ecosys...

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations have declined from 66 to 92% during the last 30 years in Canada, where they are listed as endangered. We used radiotelemetry to examine greater sage-grouse nest and brood habitat use in Alberta and assess the relationship between habitat and the population decline. We also identified the patch size at which sage-grouse were selecting n...

The sagebrush grasshopper, Melanoplus bowditchi Scudder (Orthoptera: Acrididae), is a phytophilous species that is widely distributed in the western United States on sagebrush species. The geographical distribution of M. bowditchi is very similar to the range of its host plants and its feeding association varies in relation to sagebrush distribution. Melanoplus bowditchi bowditchi Scudder and M...

This papcrdescribes methods of managing or seeding to restore big sagebrush communities for wildlife habitat. The focus is on three bigsagebrush subspecies, Wyomingbigsagebrush (Artemi­ sia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis), basin big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. tridentata), and mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana). Natural colonization of the native plant community ...

The objectives of this study were to investigate the use of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) of fecal samples for predicting the percentage of mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. vaseyana (Rydb) Beetle) in sheep diets and to quantify the limitations of using NIRS of fecal samples to predict diet composition. Fecal material from a sheep feeding trial with known levels of sag...

Over the last century non-native plants have invaded sagebrush communities of the American West. The widespread transformation from native sagebrush to invasive grassland communities as a result of wildfire will likely alter key ecosystem processes in the Great Basin, including hydrology and energy balance. To determine how this invasion may be disrupting ecosystem function, we coupled measurem...

Whether plants respond to cues produced by neighbors has been a topic of much debate. Recent evidence suggests that wild tobacco plants transplanted near experimentally clipped sagebrush neighbors suffer less leaf herbivory than tobacco controls with unclipped neighbors. Here we expand these results by showing evidence for induced resistance in naturally rooted tobacco when sagebrush neighbors ...

Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) steppe is one of North America's most imperiled ecosystems, as the result of many factors including grazing, development, fire, and invasion of exotic plants. Threats to sagebrush steppe are expected to increase because of climate change and further human development. Many songbirds use sagebrush steppe opportunistically, but a few obligate species are dependent on it...

Since the mid-1980s, sagebrush rangelands in the Great Basin of the United States have experienced more frequent and larger wildfires. These fires affect livestock forage, the sagebrush/grasses/forbs mosaic that is important for many wildlife species (e.g., the greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)), post-fire flammability and fire frequency. When a sagebrush, especially a Wyoming big...

Information that is presently available makes chemical control of sagebrush (Artemisia’ tridentata) a practical operation. Yet additional information is needed regarding ecological responses to assure that the practice of spraying for sagebrush control will be used wisely. The economy of brush control must be determined by the amount of forage and meat products gained; however, the principal ob...