Produced by Fall Creek Productions in Jackson Hole. Thanks to Mark Gocke for the sage grouse footage.
Check out the Wyoming Game and Fish webpage on sagebrush.
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Produced by Fall Creek Productions in Jackson Hole. Thanks to Mark Gocke for the sage grouse footage.
Check out the Wyoming Game and Fish webpage on sagebrush.
Great job, Mel and Rebecca!
Good job on the sagebrush article – came out really well, even if you didn’t use my verbage….ha!!
Sagacious!
Well done!
Al, it was good seeing your face again and listening to your wisdom.
I think the piece falls short in talking about the real long term threat to sagebrush and its dependent species.
Sagebrush recovery after energy development pulls out is a very long term process. The impacts from the fragmentation that results will have significant consequences. What is happening is more akin to clearcutting rather than thinning to establish more age classes of sage communities. Restoration ecology may be able to speed up the process somewhat, but can the effects be mitigated before we lose species?
A timely topic and a good video piece to contribute to the dialogue!
Thanks for the excellent story on the importance of sagebrush. But, why is plant diversity consistently neglected in discussing the importance of sagebrush? The sagebrush steppe in western North America is home to many endemic species of taxonomically diverse genera like Astragalus, Lupinus, Eriogonum, Penstemon, Phacelia, and on and on. In addition to such plant endemics, the relatively two dimensional sagebrush steppe is generally rich in shrubs, perennial grasses, and early and late season forbs. Between 100 and 200 plant species can be sampled in the sagebrush steppe all within relatively few square meters of sampling plots. This aspect is not readily apparent probably because so little intact sagebrush steppe remains. Sagebrush is part of the heritage of western North America, but let’s not forget about the plant diversity that no doubt is the cause of the animal diversity.
I enjoyed this educational video on this important and incredibly expansive ecosystem. I’m pleased to see that effects of ongoing energy development are being discussed up front, but I’m still wondering how a discussion of the recovery of the sagebrush steppe could not mention the effects of cheatgrass invasion and wildfire?
Good information from the Ole Sage himself! It goes to show how we always need to question and monitor our actions. Keep up the good work!