Estimates of fine fuel litter biomass in the northern Great Basin reveal increases during short fire-free intervals associated with invasive annual grasses.

Autor: Fernández-Guisuraga JM; Centro de Investigação e de Tecnologias Agroambientais e Biológicas, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal; Department of Biodiversity and Environmental Management, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of León, 24071 León, Spain. Electronic address: joseg@utad.pt., Calvo L; Department of Biodiversity and Environmental Management, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of León, 24071 León, Spain., Fernandes PM; Centro de Investigação e de Tecnologias Agroambientais e Biológicas, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal., Hulet A; Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA., Perryman B; Department of Agriculture, Veterinary, and Rangeland Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA., Schultz B; University of Reno Cooperative Extension Winnemucca County, University of Nevada, Winnemucca, NV 89445, USA., Jensen KS; University of Idaho Extension Service-Owyhee County, University of Idaho, Marsing, ID 83669, USA., Enterkine J; Department of Geosciences, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83706, USA., Boyd CS; USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Burns, OR 97720, USA., Davies KW; USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Burns, OR 97720, USA., Johnson DD; Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center-Burns, Oregon State University, Burns, OR 97720, USA., Wollstein K; Oregon State University Extension Service-Malheur & Harney Counties, Oregon State University, Burns, OR 97720, USA., Price WJ; Oregon State University Extension Service-Baker & Union Counties, Oregon State University, Baker City, OR 97814, USA., Arispe SA; Oregon State University Extension Service-Malheur County, Oregon State University, Ontario, OR 97914, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2023 Feb 20; Vol. 860, pp. 160634. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Nov 30.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160634
Abstrakt: Exotic annual grasses invasion across northern Great Basin rangelands has promoted a grass-fire cycle that threatens the sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) steppe ecosystem. In this sense, high accumulation rates and persistence of litter from annual species largely increase the amount and continuity of fine fuels. Here, we highlight the potential use and transferability of remote sensing-derived products to estimate litter biomass on sagebrush rangelands in southeastern Oregon, and link fire regime attributes (fire-free period) with litter biomass spatial patterns at the landscape scale. Every June, from 2018 to 2021, we measured litter biomass in 24 field plots (60 m × 60 m). Two remote sensing-derived datasets were used to predict litter biomass measured in the field plots. The first dataset used was the 30-m annual net primary production (NPP) product partitioned into plant functional traits (annual grass, perennial grass, shrub, and tree) from the Rangeland Analysis Platform (RAP). The second dataset included topographic variables (heat load index -HLI- and site exposure index -SEI-) computed from the USGS 30-m National Elevation Dataset. Through a frequentist model averaging approach (FMA), we determined that the NPP of annual and perennial grasses, as well as HLI and SEI, were important predictors of field-measured litter biomass in 2018, with the model featuring a high overall fit (R 2 = 0.61). Model transferability based on extrapolating the FMA predictive relationships from 2018 to the following years provided similar overall fits (R 2 ≈ 0.5). The fire-free period had a significant effect on the litter biomass accumulation on rangelands within the study site, with greater litter biomass in areas where the fire-free period was <10 years. Our findings suggest that the proposed remote sensing-derived products could be a key instrument to equip rangeland managers with additional information towards fuel management, fire management, and restoration efforts.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: