Graduation date: 1964

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-100). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D., Environmental Science)--University of Idaho, May 2007. / Major professor: Maxine Dakins. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by subscription or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (MS)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2008. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Douglas J. Dollhopf. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-108).

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Integrative Biology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 20-24).

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-92). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Mycorrhizae have been used in restoration for decades. However, studies assessing the use of mycorrhizae in Bromus tectorum-invaded areas of the Great Basin are limited. Two greenhouse pot experiments were conducted to assess the role of mycorrhizae in sagebrush restoration. The first objective (Chapter 2) was to determine the response of Pseudoroegneria spicatum, Elymus elymoides, and B. tectorum to mycorrhizal symbiosis by altering phosphorus, density, species, presence of mycorrhizae and water levels in a 5 factor design. To assess the mycorrhizal response, a variety of morphological and physiological traits were measured, such as tissue P concentration, specific root length, specific leaf area, carbon isotope discrimination, etc. The effects of the different treatment combinations were analyzed using ANOVA. The second objective (Chapter 3) was to determine the role of different inocula in competition between the three grasses. Species, density, and inoculum type were altered in a 3 factor design. Inoculum was cultured on Allium plants. The effect of locally cultured inoculum on the species was compared to the effect of commercial inoculum. The response of each species to mycorrhizae with different species compositions and densities was assessed. Morphological measurements were used to determine each species response to the different factor combinations. The effects of the different treatment combinations were analyzed using ANOVA. This research provides land managers with information regarding the efficacy of using local versus commercial inocula and whether they should use mycorrhizae in restoring their systems.

We investigated the effects of different fire restoration treatments on five shrubsteppe bird species in the Great Basin of central Utah. Sagebrush communities and the associated avifauna are under particular threat due to changing fire regimes. Although fires are locally destructive, it is hypothesized that they improve habitat by increasing landscape-level heterogeneity. As long as fire follows a historic fire regime, the plant and animal communities can usually recover. However, fires can and often do burn outside of the normal regime. The Milford Flat Fire, which occurred in west-central Utah, was the largest wildfire recorded in the Great Basin. Considered catastrophic, concern existed that natural recovery of sagebrush and its avifauna would be unlikely. To prevent this, vegetation reseeding treatments were applied immediately post-fire. These treatments included two seed mix types, with or without a shrub component, and three mechanical applications, drill seeding, aerial seeding followed by chaining, and aerial seeding only. We surveyed the avian community in the different treatment types and in untreated areas within the fire using line transect distance sampling methods. Using a space for time substitution, we sampled nearby unburned areas as reference to represent pre-fire conditions. We hypothesized that the treatment areas would be more similar to the reference than the untreated areas, and that the treatments would all have similar effects. We found some effect on the presence and extirpation of the birds at the guild and overall bird level. We found no significant effect from the treatments on the five study species at the species level, and no effects on bird densities. The effects of the restoration treatments were overshadowed by the effect of the fire on changing the habitat, namely, the density of sagebrush. We saw a pattern of birds responding to the removal or survival of sagebrush and the treatments were insufficient in affecting a short term response.

Seeding deteriorated range lands efficiently and economically has become one of the most promising means of improving the agricultural economy of the western range states. By providing the most rapid means of increasing the quantity and improving the quality of forage for livestock, and aiding in the prevention of soil erosion, artificial seeding contributes directly to the stability of agriculture.

The sagebrush shrub steppe ecosystem is of great concern to researchers, conservationists, and the general public because of the documented declines associated with it. Monitoring in the past has generally been point-based and lacking in long-term data. To overcome these deficiencies, an automated method of monitoring was developed using GIS and remote sensing. Geospatial layers of vegetation, soils, fire history, roads, streams, and springs were acquired and processed to characterize selected monitoring locations. A temporal set of Landsat satellite imagery for the past 30 years was normalized to reduce the effects of sun angle, haze, and sensor change. After normalization, a Tasseled Cap Transformation was adapted with local coefficients to provide a landscape metric which was sensitive to actual ground conditions and meaningful at management level. The Tasseled Cap outputs of brightness and greenness are a relative measure of bare ground and plant productivity, respectively. When measured over time, brightness and greenness provided diagnostic trends and condition of treated big sagebrush communities