Bruce Roundy is currently a professor of Range Science in the Plant and Wildlife Sciences Department at Brigham Young University.  His main interests are the effects of disturbance on plants and restoration ecology.  He previously taught and conducted range research at University of Arizona in Tucson for 10.5 years and conducted range research for the USDA/ARS in Reno, Nevada for 7 years.  He has an MS in Range Management from the University of Nevada, Reno and a PhD in Range Management from Utah State University.

Email: Bruce_Roundy@byu.edu

Abstract:

Sagebrush Steppe Restoration Situations and Techniques

Bruce A. Roundy, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT

Sagebrush steppe communities are at risk due to increased wildfire and weed dominance, as well as sagebrush decadence and mortality. Post-fire rehabilitation techniques have been most successful when introduced or native grasses have been sown using methods such as drilling or broadcasting and chaining to cover seed. Mechanical methods to renovate decadent stands of sagebrush in conjunction with seeding may help diversify these communities, but there appears to be an inverse relationship between sagebrush mortality from mechanical treatments and herbaceous species seeding success. Increasing native plant diversity after mechanically and chemically treating crested wheatgrass stands is being stduied on a number of sites. Use of fire, chemical, and mechanical treatments to restore big sagebrush communities across a range of residual native perennial understory and pinyon-juniper overstory densities is being tested across the Great Basin.