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The historical role of fire in shaping sagebrush ecosystems remains poorly understood, yet is important for informing the management and conservation of sagebrush landscapes and obligate species such as the threatened Gunnison sage-grouse (GUSG; Centrocercus minimus). To gain insight into the historical role of fire in sagebrush landscapes of the Upper Gunnison Basin (UGB), we reconstructed the historical (1424-2001) frequency of low-severity fire...
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Fire has shaped western ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forest landscapes for millennia. Yet, contemporary land management coupled with warming and drought has led to shifts in forest structure and severe wildfires. A growing body of evidence suggests that under altered fire regimes and climate change, ponderosa pine forests may be vulnerable to fire-driven conversion to a different forest type or non-forest vegetation. However, the extent and direction...
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The Southern Rocky Mountains are at the southern range of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) and their iconic predator, the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis). In this region recreational uses, backcountry roads and trails, and other human developments have been identified as risk factors affecting lynx productivity through altering the snowshoe hare prey base. Beginning in 2013, Crested Butte Mountain Resort in western Colorado began proposals, and was...
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Maintaining opportunities for outdoor recreation while balancing sustainable use of natural resources presents a challenge for natural resources managers in the face of rapidly increasing recreational use. Outdoor recreation provides health and well-being benefits to humans and is often perceived as having neutral ecological impacts on wildlife and the environment. Human recreation, however, disrupts many aspects of wildlife ecology by triggering...
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Bee species richness has declined globally in recent decades due to several intertwined factors. Urbanization has both positive and negative effects on bees, with species responses being highly trait- and scale-specific. Urban environments differ from natural environments in the types of habitat and food resources they provide, but they still have the potential to provide valuable habitat to increase bee abundance and diversity. Although research...
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Changing fire regimes raise concerns about increasing vulnerability of dry conifer forests in the southwestern United States. However, the extent to which contemporary fire regimes may have diverged from historical patterns and processes remains the subject of considerable uncertainty, and consequently, active scientific debate. At issue is the historical role and extent of high severity fire. Here, we contrast the frequency and severity of historical...
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Anthropogenic impacts to wildlife populations represent a reoccurring theme in wildlife management as the human population expands into wild landscapes. Our study focused on a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) colony of approximately 20 nests uniquely located along the Slate River near Crested Butte, Colorado. This high mountain stream increasingly draws river recreationists, especially stand-up paddle boarders. Our study assessed how human activities...
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Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have reached unprecedented levels, posing a threat to the health of the biosphere. Soils store the largest amount of terrestrial carbon (C) and can be used as a method for sequestering atmospheric C. The cycling of C between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems is directly influenced by soil microbial activity and respiration. Compost amendments to soil systems have the potential to shift the composition of the...
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Within the sagebrush steppe ecosystem in the intermountain west, sagebrush obligate birds occupy a variety of specialized niches. The purpose of our research was to identify the effect of road presence and habitat covariates on the density of sagebrush obligate birds during their breeding season. Roads through sagebrush threaten local bird abundance through anthropogenic disturbance and habitat fragmentation (Knick et al. 2012). However, research...
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Human-wildlife conflicts are increasing as population growth, habitat conversion, and climate change accelerate challenges for species that interface with urban and rural communities. In the Gunnison Valley, like many areas throughout the west, such conflicts are increasing between black bears and city residents. Black bears are adaptable mammals and exhibit different behaviors in response to selective pressures (e.g., temperature and precipitation...