Cooperative Agreement F25AC00620

AFTER COMPLETING MODERATE TO LARGESCALE TREATMENTS, MANAGERS MAY LOOK AT THE SAGEBRUSH CONSERVATION DESIGN SCD AND THE NEWLY DEVELOPED WEB APP TO ASSESS IF THEIR TREATMENTS MADE A DIFFERENCE IN OVERALL SAGEBRUSH ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY SEI AND HELPED TO DEFEND OR GROW THE CORE IN THEIR AREA. WHEN THOSE DIFFERENCES ARE NOT OBSERVED, MANAGERS MAY QUESTION THE ACCURACY OR APPLICABILITY OF THE SCD WITHOUT IMPORTANT CONTEXT ABOUT THE SCALE OF TREATMENTS COMPARED TO THE RESOLUTION OF SCD DATA, THE 2KM SMOOTHING RADIUS THAT WAS APPLIED TO SEI VALUES, AND THE ABILITY OF OTHER THREATS TO DAMPEN ANY SEI CHANGES IF NOT JOINTLY ADDRESSED. CONSERVATION SCIENCE PARTNERS AIM WITH THIS PROJECT IS TO BOTH FILL A KNOWLEDGE GAP AND PROVIDE A TECHNICAL TRANSFER DOCUMENT WITH GUIDANCE TO MANAGERS ABOUT WHEN AND WHY THEY MAY EXPECT TO SEE OUTCOMES OF THEIR EFFECTIVE TREATMENTS REFLECTED IN DIFFERENT LAYERS OF THE SCD E.G., SCALE OF TREATMENT, WHETHER SINGLE OR MULTIPLE THREATS DRIVE DECLINES IN SEI, TIME SINCE TREATMENT, ETC.. TO DO SO, WE WILL IDENTIFY THE SCALE AND THREAT CONTEXT AT WHICH CONSERVATION TREATMENTS RESULT IN DETECTABLE DIFFERENCES IN SCD DATA LAYERS I.E., Q VALUES, SEI, AND CORE SAGEBRUSH AREA GROWTH OPPORTUNITY AREA OTHER RANGELAND AREA DESIGNATIONS AND CREATE A GUIDANCE DOCUMENT FOR MANAGERS. THIS DOCUMENT WILL PROVIDE INSIGHTS ON WHEN TREATMENT EFFECTS WOULD BE EXPECTED TO INFLUENCE SCD DATA LAYERS AND WILL SUPPORT LANDOWNERS IN INTERPRETING AND RECONCILING DIFFERENCES IN LOCALSCALE TREATMENTS COMPARED TO TREATMENT RESPONSES REFLECTED IN THE SCD. DELIVERABLES INCLUDE 1 A DOCUMENT DESIGNED TO BE SHARED WITH MANAGERS THAT PROVIDES CONTEXT ON WHY THEIR EFFECTIVE TREATMENT PROJECT MAY OR MAY NOT SHOW UP AT VARIOUS SCALES IN THE SCD DATA E.G., INFLUENCE OF TREATMENT SCALE, MULTIPLE THREATS, TIME SINCE TREATMENT APPLICATION, ETC. 2 WEBINAR, VIRTUAL PRESENTATION AT A WORKSHOP PLANNED BY ONE OF THE REGIONAL SAGEBRUSH CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIPS, OR A MINI TRAINING MODULE FOR CONSERVATION PRACTITIONERS EXPLAINING OUR FINDINGS AND THE DEVELOPMENT AND POTENTIAL USES OF THE GUIDANCE DOCUMENT AND 3 IF TIME AND FUNDING ALLOW, A MANUSCRIPT TO BE PUBLISHED IN A PEERREVIEWED JOURNAL THAT EXPLORES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN APPLIED TREATMENTS AND OUR ABILITY TO DETECT POSTTREATMENT EFFECTS IN SEI AND OTHER SCD DATA. EXPECTED OUTCOMES INCLUDE ENHANCED CLARITY SURROUNDING APPROPRIATE USES AND INTERPRETATIONS OF OF THE SCD WEB APP AND A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE LANDSCAPE TREATMENT RESPONSES AT SCALE FOR CONSERVATION PRACTITIONERS AND LAND MANAGERS OWNERS ACROSS THE SAGEBRUSH BIOME. ENDUSERS INCLUDE FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS AND LAND OWNERS ENGAGED IN INVASIVE ANNUAL GRASS AND CONIFER REMOVAL TREATMENTS AND HABITAT RESTORATION IN THE BIOME.