State and Transition Models A Lens For Viewing Biomass Projects

Sherman Swanson, Rangeland Management State Specialist

Ecological Site
A kind of land with specific physical characteristics which differs from other kinds of land in its ability to produce distinctive kinds and amounts of vegetation and in its response to management.

Over 1000 in Nevada (850+ with sagebrush) Many of the sagebrush sites may also support pinyon and/or juniper trees at times

Ecological Site Descriptions

Incorporation of new ecological dynamics theory based on non-equilibrium ecology: State and Transition Model (Westoby, et al, 1989) Replaces Range Condition = Seral Stages Model Multiple stable states

Range Condition And Range Succession Concepts

Compare current plant composition with the reference (potential) composition from the site description Overlap = A condition class or seral stage

Range condition / ecological status 0-25% overlap Poor Early seral 26-50% Fair Mid-seral 51-75% Good Late Seral 76-100% Excellent PNC

Loamy 8-10 Ecological Site

Site

SHRUBS (45) Wyoming Sagebrush Rabbitbrush Other GRASSES (50) Indian Ricegrass Thurber Needlegrass Squirreltail Sandbergs Bluegrass Other Cheatgrass

Description

location 1

location 2

25-35 2-5 5-10

70 (35) 5 (5) -

17 (17) 3 (3) -

20-30 10-20 2-8 2-5 2-8 0

9 (9) 6 3 1 0 5 (6) (3) (1) (0)

15 (15) 27 15 10 10 0 (20) (8) (5) (2)

FORBS (5) Globemallow Other Total/(Overlap) Condition Seral Stage

2-5 2-5

1 (1) T (T) 100 (60) Good Late

2 (2) 1 (1) 100 (73) Good Late

Problems With Range Condition And Succession Concept

Achieve the same range condition or seral stage classification with:
Different species compositions Different life-form compositions

Problems With Range Condition And Succession Concept

Achieve the same range condition or seral stage classification with:
Different species compositions Different life-form compositions

Managers seldom link seral class/ condition scores with quantitative species composition

Problems With Range Condition And Succession Concept

Achieve the same range condition or seral stage classification with:
Different species compositions Different life-form compositions

Managers seldom link seral class/ condition scores with quantitative species composition With greater deviation from PNC less knowledge about community composition Less is known about the response potential

Problems With Range Condition And Succession Concept

Achieve the same range condition or seral stage classification with:
Different species compositions Different life-form compositions

Managers seldom link seral class/ condition scores with quantitative species composition With greater deviation from PNC less knowledge about community composition Less is known about the response potential

Class names lose information about response potential

Conceptual State and Transition Model

State 1

Threshold

State 2

Reversible transition Community pathway

Irreversible transition
Community Phases

State 3

What is a STATE?
A recognizable, resistant and resilient complex of 2 components:
soil base interaction of climate, abiotic soil characteristics, soil biota, topography vegetative structure aboveground communities

What is a Transition?
A trajectory of system change away from the current stable state - triggered by natural events, management actions or both.

Reversible - before transitioning across a threshold Irreversible after crossing a threshold

What are Thresholds?

Boundary in space and time between states when one or more ecological processes has been irreversibly changed beyond the point of self-repair:

What are Thresholds?

Boundary in space and time between states when one or more ecological processes has been irreversibly changed beyond the point of self-repair: Return to original state - requires management beyond simple reversal of events that caused the change

What are Thresholds?

Boundary in space and time between states when one+ ecological processes has been irreversibly changed beyond the point of self-repair:

Return to original state - requires management beyond simple reversal of events that caused the change
Often associated with high cost/high risk management actions

Succession

Fire or fire surrogate

Herbaceous plant community

Shrubby overstory With herbaceous Understory

PERENNIAL HERBACEOUS STATE

No fire to Balance Grazing

Requires additional inputs to restore the understory

Diminished perennial herbaceous understory

Perennial herbaceous understory mostly absent

SHRUB STATE

Shrub State

No fire

PJ control and new understory propagules

Perennial Herbaceous State

Diminished Understory mostly shrubs absent TREE STATE

Alternative State
--Perennial Invasive weeds--

Nevada Noxious Weed List

A Weeds:
African Rue Austrian fieldcress Austrian peaweed Camelthorn Common crupina Toadflax Dyers woad Giant Salvinia Goats rue Houndstongue Iberian Star thistle Klamath weed Leafy spurge Malta Star thistle Mayweed chamomile Mediterranean sage Purple loosestrife Purple Star thistle Rush skeletonweed Sow Thistle Spotted Knapweed Squarrose star thistle Sulfur cinquefoil Syrian Bean Caper Yellow Starthistle Yellow Toadflax

Leaf Biomass Through Time After Fire

Phase 2 Phase 3

Phase 1 Perennial Herbaceous State and/or Shrub State

Tree State

DECREASING RESILIENCE RESISTANCE FLEXIBILITY

UNDERSTORY

INCREASING RISK

TREE

Why Is This Important?

Recognize your last opportunity Phase 2 The earlier the better for the understory Before the perennials thin (cant step between) Before the fuel load increases expense Before the fuel load decreases resilience

?
ALTERED SITE POTENTIAL STATE

Triage

Priorities

Assess rangeland by ecological sites Find areas approaching a threshold before they cross it.
Restore their resiliency use tools like vegetation management, fire, grazing management, etc.

Triage

Priorities

Assess rangeland by ecological sites Find areas approaching a threshold before they cross it.
Restore their resiliency use tools like vegetation management, fire, grazing management, etc. Do not focus on areas unlikely to cross a threshold

Triage

Priorities

Assess rangeland by ecological sites Find areas approaching a threshold before they cross it.
Restore their resiliency use tools like vegetation management, fire, grazing management, etc. Do not focus on areas unlikely to cross a threshold Once across a threshold, manage to prevent the next threshold
Use fuel breaks to avoid the big fires in PJ Use livestock to reduce fuels in the annual grassland Be prepared after fires to seed in the first winter after the woody plants burn

Biomass Harvesting Where and When?

Biomass Harvesting Where and When?

After higher priority work is assured (not crossing thresholds)

Biomass Harvesting Where and When?

After higher priority work is assured (not crossing thresholds) In synergy with other tools and budgets to harvest biomass where the understory can be released

Biomass Harvesting Where and When?

After higher priority work is assured (not crossing thresholds) In synergy with other tools and budgets to harvest biomass where the understory can be released To re-create mosaics with fuel breaks (prevent large fires)

Biomass Harvesting Where and When?

After higher priority work is assured (not crossing thresholds) In synergy with other tools and budgets to harvest biomass where the understory can be released To re-create mosaics with fuel breaks (prevent large fires) To avoid the extreme heat from fire after accumulated fuels would kill (not release) understory perennials.

Biomass Harvesting Where and When?

After higher priority work is assured (not crossing thresholds) In synergy with other tools and budgets to harvest biomass where the understory can be released To re-create mosaics with fuel breaks (prevent large fires) To avoid the extreme heat from fire after accumulated fuels would kill (not release) understory perennials. To harvest a resource (that will otherwise go up in smoke)

Questions?

WYOMING BIG SAGEBRUSH STATE & TRANSITION MODEL (WITH CHEATGRASS AND/OR OTHER INVASIVE WEEDS)
Succession

Fire or fire surrogate Seeded With Herbaceous sagebrush

No fire to Balance Grazing Succession Fire or fire surrogate Shrubby overstory With herbaceous Understory PERENNIAL HERBACEOUS STATE Herbaceous plant community Requires additional inputs Diminished perennial herbaceous understory Perennial herbaceous understory mostly absent SHRUB STATE No fire SEEDED PERENNIAL HERBACEOUS STATE PJ control and new understory propagules Diminished shrubs Understory mostly absent TREE STATE Succession

Fire/ PJ control w/o successful seeding

ABUNDANCE

Early seral dominants

Herbaceous perennials

Sagebrush overstory

Dominant tree species

Frequent fires Cheatgrass and Fire resistant other annuals shrubs and cheatgrass ANNUAL GRASS FIRECYCLE STATE Introduction and explosion of perennial invasive species

No fire

?
ALTERED SITE POTENTIAL STATE

?
PERENNIAL INVASIVE WEED STATE

Perennial invasive weeds dominate if their Populations are allowed to explode Annual grass fire cycle state after fire and without successful seeding Sagebrush understory

Priorities for Management

Keep the Perennial Herbaceous State resilient Prevent fire in the Shrub State Use fire or fire surrogates to avoid the Tree State Seed successfully after a Shrub or Tree-State fire Eradicate invasive weeds before they explode Break up the landscape to reduce fire frequency in the Annual Grass Fire-cycle State

We Cant Continue To Do Nothing!