Removal of livestock grazing is a common prescription to promote ecosystem recovery after wildfire (and subsequent emergency site rehabilitation efforts). Ecosystem recovery is typically considered from a terrestrial perspective, but wildfire and grazing can strongly influence aquatic ecosystems as well, especially smaller and fragmented stream networks, which are prevalent in the Great Basin (Minshall et al. 1989 ; Dunham et al. 2003 ; Luce et al. 2012 ). Understanding these influences is essential for managing fire and grazing. Examples include identifying timeframes for resuming livestock grazing following wildfire, and the interactions between livestock grazing, fuels, and recovery of stream-side or riparian vegetation in the region.

Given the expressed need to manage grazing, wildfire, and associated habitats for a host of species and ecosystem services in sage steppe ecosystems, and the extreme dearth of information on water – the most important resource – we have identified a set of more specific management questions to address in our proposed study: 1) How does wildfire influence availability and quality (temperature) of water in streams? 2) Which responses are most sensitive, including stream intermittency (e.g., probability of desiccation, length of hydroperiod, etc.), summer temperatures, and winter freezing? 3) How long do these influences persist or does the system recover to a pre-wildfire condition? 4) How do pre-fire conditions influence recovery of stream flows and temperatures? 5) How are these conditions influenced by livestock grazing?

Theme: Plants, Soil and Site Stability

Project start date: 9/1/2017

Fiscal year funded: 2017

Project status: Active

Project managers: Jason Dunham, U.S. Geological Survey