Skip to main content

Brian Mealor

thumbnail
Research and Publications Authored and Supported by GBLCC Staff
FY2010In addition to regional Science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge projects that the Great Basin LCC (GBLCC) supports, GBLCC staff lend technical expertise to a range of projects and have contributed to important regional publications on a range of subjects. These publications range in type from textbooks, to management-oriented science and conservation plans, to scientific papers and have covered subjects like wind erosion following fire, soil microbiota response to drought, plant community resilience to invasive species, and alpine plant communities. In many cases these publications form foundations for scientifically-informed management strategies across the Great Basin.
In 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Conservation Objectives Team (COT) identified wildfire and the associated conversion of low- to mid-elevation sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) habitats to invasive annual grass-dominated vegetation communities as the two primary threats to the sustainability of Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus, hereafter GRSG) in the western portion of the species range (USFWS 2013). To facilitate the examination and evaluation of the role fire and invasive plants play in the conservation of GRSG, the USFWS solicited the assistance of the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) to conduct a collaborative assessment of the conservation challenges...
This report provides a strategic approach developed by a Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies interagency working group for conservation of sagebrush ecosystems, Greater sage-grouse, and Gunnison sage-grouse. It uses information on (1) factors that influence sagebrush ecosystem resilience to disturbance and resistance to nonnative invasive annual grasses and (2) distribution and relative abundance of sage-grouse populations to address persistent ecosystem threats, such as invasive annual grasses and wildfire, and land use and development threats, such as oil and gas development and cropland conversion, to develop effective management strategies. A sage-grouse habitat matrix links relative resilience...
thumbnail
Invasive Annual Grass Socio-Economic assessment of the cost of invasive annual grass impacts and management in the sagebrush biome
The funding will support a post-doctoral researcher for 2 years to work directly on regional projects focused on invasive annual grasses: Combining multiple existing data sets over multiple years from Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Idaho, and New Mexico using a meta-analytical framework to evaluate:1) Relationship between invasive annual grass abundance and desirable plant community characteristics (productivity, diversity, abundance, etc.), 2) Responses of desirable plant communities to invasive annual grass management (herbicides first, then other management methods), and 3) Enhance an existing project to develop an index of sagebrush quality and susceptibility to impacts from invasive annual grasses. The groundwork...
thumbnail
Invasive Species Management Contributions to Greater Sage-grouse Conservation West-wide.
FY2014The project team surveyed land managers working on invasive weeds in the west. These surveys provided information for the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife (WAFWA) Wildfire and Invasive Species Initiative Working Group. The survey results and other findings were used to inform a report titled Invasive Plant Management and Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation,published last spring.
View more...
ScienceBase brings together the best information it can find about USGS researchers and offices to show connections to publications, projects, and data. We are still working to improve this process and information is by no means complete. If you don't see everything you know is associated with you, a colleague, or your office, please be patient while we work to connect the dots. Feel free to contact sciencebase@usgs.gov.