CESU Drought and Sage Brush: Management Implications

Project ID: L16AC00292

Federal Agency: Bureau of Land Management

Partner Institution: Oregon Institute of Technology

Fiscal Year: 2016

Initial Funding: $21,000

Total Funding: $45,000

Project Type: Research

Project Disciplines: Biological

Principal Investigator: Byrne, Kerry

Agreement Technical Representative: Weidenbach, Grant

Abstract: Investigate the impacts of intense, long-term drought on the western Great Basin sagebrush ecosystem by implementing a drought experiment in the Klamath Falls Resource Area in native sagebrush vegetation. This drought experiment will be part of a large network of concurrent drought experiments using the same methods, calling the International Drought Experiment (IDE) network. Data will be collected on forage production and plant community composition over four (4) years to determine how the plant community might respond to sever drought, which will help inform future land management decisions.