Location: Forage and Range Research
Project Number: 2080-21500-002-022-R
Project Type: Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Oct 1, 2023
End Date: Jun 30, 2026
Objective:
Identify the best management practices for improving degraded big-game habitat and provide new insights into the establishment and survival of several native browse and herbaceous species.
Approach:
Establish research plots and monitor experimental treatments to enhance plant establishment in wildlife management areas in northern Utah. Environmental and biological plant data will be collected to quantify best management practices to improve retention and seedling establishment. Results will generate study reports and scientific publications to directly inform land managers. Research will address four questions:
1) Which environmental factors have the greatest influence on seedling establishment and survival?
2) Which treatment combinations produce the best suppression of undesirable understory vegetation?
3) Which treatment combinations yield the highest establishment and survival of seeded species?
4) How do low- and high-end monitoring protocols compare for detecting favorable microsites for seedling establishment?
