Medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae [L.] Nevski), an exotic annual grass, is rapidly spreading and
causing ecological damage across the western United States. Because this exotic plant occupies vast areas and because
management resources are limited, it is critical that land managers prioritize where they direct treatment and monitoring
efforts. Identifying where...
Slickspots are soil inclusions with unique loamy soils that provide habitats for many endemic plants worldwide, including those within sagebrush steppe. Sagebrush-dominated communities are declining and require restoration, but restoration techniques commonly used may impact negatively some intermixed communities found on soil inclusions including those on slickspot soils. Slickspot soils...
Many exotic annual grasses are believed to increase wildfire frequency to the detriment of native vegetation
by increasing fine fuels and thus, creating a grass-fire cycle. However, information on differences in fuel characteristics
between invaded and non-invaded plant communities is lacking, or is based mainly on speculation and anecdotal evidence....
Medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae [L.] Nevski) is an exotic annual grass invading western rangelands. Successful
revegetation of invaded-plant communities can be prohibitively expensive because it often requires iterative applications of
integrated control and revegetation treatments. Prescribed burning has been used to control medusahead and prepare seedbeds
for revegetation, but burning has...
Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis [Beetle & A. Young] S.L. Welsh) plant communities with degraded native herbaceous understories occupy vast expanses of the western United States. Restoring the native herbaceous understory in these communities is needed to provide higher-quality wildlife habitat, decrease the risk of exotic plant invasion,...
Agave salmiana is a native plant species harvested for the commercial production of mezcal (Agave spirits) in the highlands of central Mexico. The objective of this study was to identify vegetation changes in natural communities where A. salmiana has been differentially harvested for commercial purposes. Three plant community categories were...
Medusahead [Taeniatherum caput-medusae (L.) Nevski], a non-native, winter-annual grass (Poaceae), has
invaded rangelands throughout the western USA. Medusahead is an aggressive competitor that crowds out native plants
and reduces forage for wildlife and livestock. Sulfometuron methyl is a sulfonylurea herbicide used to control medusahead,
but its effect on non-target native...
Desert plant communities are among the most sensitive to changes in soil water conditions. In areas with shallow aquifers, it is important to understand both the effects of groundwater alterations on vegetation and how changes in surface-soil water affect plant water uptake. Studies in arid environments have evaluated the effect...
This study consisted of two research projects in the Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis (Beetle & A. Young) S.L. Welsh) alliance, the most extensive of the big sagebrush complex in the Intermountain West. In the first project, we intensively sampled 107 relatively undisturbed, late seral Wyoming big sagebrush...
Invasive plant species are expanding and transforming vegetative communities across Oregon and throughout the United States. Over the past three decades remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS), and Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies have been integrated to detect and map the distribution of noxious rangeland plants. This study developed low-cost...