Small Mammals: Pests or Vital Components of the Ecosystem

Small mammals regarded as pests should not be viewed separately from other components in the ecosystem. Small mammals have significant influences on vegetation and soils, exert predatory pressure on other animals, and provide food for predators. Future management efforts should include consideration of these diverse influences

Recent Biodiversity Patterns in the Great Plains: Implications for Restoration and Management

Ecosystem, species and genetic dimensions of biodiversity have eroded since widespread settlement of the Great Plains. Conversion of native vegetation in the region followed the precipitation gradient, with the greatest conversion in the eastern tallgrass prairie and eastern mixed-grass types. Areas now dominated by intensive land uses are hot spots for exotic birds. However, species of all taxa listed as threatened or endangered are well-distributed across the Great Plains. These species are often associated with special landscape features, such as wetlands, rivers, caves, sandhills and prairie dog towns. In the long run, sustaining biodiversity in the Great Plains, and the goods and services we derive from the plains, will depend on how successfully we can manage to maintain and restore habitat variation and revitalize ecosystem functioning. Public policy and legislation played a significant role in the degradation of native habitats in the region. Both policy and legislation will be needed to reverse the degradation and restore critical ecosystem processes

Evaluating Post-Fire Successional Trajectories After a Large High-Severity Wildfire

This study took advantage of permanent plots in the then-largest severe fire in the Southwest to assess fire effects on (1) successional trajectory, (2) plant community changes, including persistence of post-fire seeding and presence of non-native species, and (3) and fuel dynamics. Each objective resulted in a separate study and publication. Abstracts summarizing each objective studied are presented below. (1) Simulating post-wildfire forest trajectories under alternative climate and management scenarios. (2) Pre-fire fuel reduction treatments influence plant communities and exotic species 9 years after a large wildfire. (3) Pre-wildfire fuel reduction treatments result in more resilient forest structure a decade after wildfire

South Dakota Rangelands: More than a Sea of Grass

This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management, the National Agricultural Library, and the University of Arizona Libraries.The Rangelands archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform March 202

Density and Elevational Distribution of the San Francisco Peaks Ragwort, Packera franciscana (Asteraceae), a Threatened Single-Mountain Endemic

Volume: 57Start Page: 213End Page: 21

The Role of Prescribed Burning in Regenerating Quercus macrocarpa and Associated Woody Plants in Stringer Woodlands in the Black Hills, South Dakota

. Throughout the range of Quercus macrocarpa, fire historically played an important role in maintaining Quercus stands. However, little is known about the role of fire in maintaining stringer Quercus stands on the western edge of its distribution. This research suggests that pre- scribed burning could be used to rejuvenate woody plants in Quercus woodlands. Relative to unburned areas, there were more (p < 0.1) Quercus, Fraxinus pennsylvanica and Acer negundo sprouts following spring burning. However, Quercus seedling density did not increase (p = 0.22) relative to unburned sites, and changes in the density of woody understory species in response to burning were erratic. Dormant season burning has some appeal from a fire control point of view and because carbohydrate re- serves in woody plants are high during this time. However, if the objective is to regenerate woody plants and/or mimic historical fires, prescriptions should be set to achieve high intensities. Keywords: Quer..