Packaging Usable Climate Change Information for Sagebrush Country

One of the largest ecosystems in the United States, sagebrush-steppe communities are currently in peril and threaten to impact at least 150 species of vertebrates (Hagen 2011). The decline of sagebrush habitat is exacerbated through an interaction of threats and feedbacks, including fire and invasive species, making the management of sagebrush ecosystems a challenge (Connelly et al. 2004). Optimizing sagebrush management to reduce sagebrush decline includes understanding the role of climate (Dalgleish et al. 2011; Schrag et al. 2010; Compagnoni 2013). Current climate tools may be too coarse or may not include the specific variables useful for land management. Further complications may include communication barriers between land managers and climate scientists that can impede efficient information exchange, leaving climate scientists without necessary questions and land managers without necessary answers. There is a need for managers and climate scientist to work together to make current and future climate information more applicable to land management needs (Kocher et al. 2012). This research seeks to understand: Can collaboration between climate scientists and land managers lead to more useful and useable climate tools for land management? The main objectives of this project include the following: \ud ➢ Understand current threats and their sensitivity to climate within Oregon and Idaho sagebrush habitat. \ud ➢ Identify climate information that is needed by land managers to make sagebrush management decisions. \ud ➢ Identify climate tools that would be most useful to land managers. \ud ➢ Compile information to be used within a climate tool that is both useful and useable by land managers. \ud ➢ Gather feedback from managers about the collaboration process and the climate tool created \ud ➢ Assess the collaboration process and whether it was beneficial in adapting climate tools for land managers. \ud ➢ Complete thesis and/or presentation on topic