State of the sagebrush: Implementing the sagebrush conservation design to save a biome

Authors: DOHERTY, KEVIN - Us Fish And Wildlife Service; MAESTAS, JEREMY - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA); REMINGTON, THOMAS - Western Association Of Fish And Wildlife Agencies; NAUGLE, DAVID - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA); Boyd, Chad; WIECHMAN, LIEF - Us Geological Survey (USGS); BEDROSIAN, GEOFFREY - Us Fish And Wildlife Service; CAHILL, MATTHEW - The Nature Conservancy; COATES, PETER - Us Geological Survey (USGS); CRIST, MICHELE - Boise Cascade; HOLDREGE, MARTIN - Us Geological Survey; KUMAR, ALEXANDER - Us Fish And Wildlife Service; MOZELEWSKI, TINA - Conservation Science Partners; O'Connor, Rory; OLIMPI, ELISSA - Conservation Science Partners; OLSON, ANDREW - Intermountain West Joint Venture; PROCHAZKA, BRIAN - Us Geological Survey (USGS); REINHARDT, JASON - Us Forest Service (FS); SMITH, JOSEPH - University Of Montana; SPARKLIN, WILLIAM - Us Fish And Wildlife Service; THEOBALD, DAVID - Us Fish And Wildlife Service; WOLLSTEIN, KATHERINE - Oregon State University

Submitted to: Rangeland Ecology and Management
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/8/2024
Publication Date: 10/15/2024
Citation: Doherty, K.E., Maestas, J.D., Remington, T.E., Naugle, D.E., Boyd, C.S., Wiechman, L.A., Bedrosian, G., Cahill, M., Coates, P.S., Crist, M.R., Holdrege, M.C., Kumar, A.V., Mozelewski, T.G., O'Connor, R.C., Olimpi, E.M., Olson, A.C., Prochazka, B.G., Reinhardt, J.R., Smith, J.T., Sparklin, W.D., Theobald, D.M., Wollstein, K.L. 2024. State of the sagebrush: Implementing the sagebrush conservation design to save a biome. Rangeland Ecology and Management. 97:1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.017.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.017

Interpretive Summary: Over the last 20 years, intact and largely intact sagebrush habitats are being lost to ecosystem threats such as invasive annual grasses, conifer expansion, and wildfire, at a biome-wide rate of approximately 1.3 million acres per year. For this special issue of Rangeland Ecology and Management, we assembled a team of science and management specialists who used an array of geospatial tools and analyses to produce a volume of papers that collectively provides an actionable path for strategically defending and growing core sagebrush habitats. This volume reviewed the efficacy current conservation efforts, estimated the extent to which that efficacy could improve with a more strategic focus, and provided a selection of papers that defined and offered insights into implementing a more strategic conservation approach within the biome. The contemporary loss of core sagebrush habitats is occurring despite massive conservation effort and funding that has largely focused on opportunistic and reactive conservation, and this special issue provides an alternative, practical, and strategic vision for planning and empowering more effective conservation to defend and grow core sagebrush habitats.

Technical Abstract: This special issue of Rangeland Ecology and Management is dedicated to applying the Sagebrush Conservation Design (SCD) to improve conservation outcomes across the sagebrush biome in the face of pervasive ecosystem threats. This special issue provides new science and real-world examples of how we can implement the SCD to save a biome. The SCD is a tool to identify intact sagebrush areas and address the largest threats to the ecosystem. The SCD focuses on first protecting intact and functioning sagebrush ecosystems, called Core Sagebrush Areas, then works outward toward more degraded areas (i.e., “Defend the Core”). The premise behind the Defend the Core approach is simple: focus resources first on preventative actions that retain ecosystem services in Core Sagebrush Areas because they are more cost-effective and more likely to be successful. The opening article of this special issue creates a foundation for the 19 following papers, providing a coherent path for implementing the SCD. The overarching themes are: 1) Business-As-Usual Won't Save the Sagebrush Sea, 2) Better Spatial Targeting Can Improve Outcomes, 3) Conservation Planning is Needed to Develop Realistic Business Plans, 4) Targeted Ecosystem Management: Monitoring Shows Managing for Sagebrush Ecological Integrity is Working, 5) Maintaining Sagebrush Ecological Integrity is Ecologically Relevant, and 6) There is Only Hope if We Manage Change. The collective articles show that there is no shared plan to save the biome, yet a business plan for the biome could ensure realistic goals. The sagebrush biome still has vast expanses of open spaces with high ecological integrity at a scale that is rare in other ecological systems within the lower 48 states. If we focus on the common ground of the main drivers of ecosystem change, implementing the SCD and Defending the Core are viable strategies to help save a biome.