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Disturbance Thresholds for Oregon

Disturbance Thresholds for Oregon. Evidence from the scientific community. The Problem. H ow much sage-grouse habitat can be altered? What baseline values can we use to regulate disturbance? Where can sage-grouse habitat be altered? When can sage-grouse habitat be altered?. Disturbance.

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Disturbance Thresholds for Oregon

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  1. Disturbance Thresholds for Oregon Evidence from the scientific community

  2. The Problem • How much sage-grouse habitat can be altered? • What baseline values can we use to regulate disturbance? • Where can sage-grouse habitat be altered? • When can sage-grouse habitat be altered?

  3. Disturbance …”a relatively discrete event in time that disrupts ecosystem, community, or population structure and changes resources, substrate availability, or the physical environment” -- Pickett and White (1985: 7) Categories: • Physical(abiotic) • Biological (biotic) • Human (anthropogenic) • Natural • Discrete • Diffuse • Short-term • Long-term

  4. Disturbance Categories Physical (abiotic) Biological (biotic) Human Natural Diffuse Discrete Short-term Long-term

  5. Key Characteristics of Disturbance • Intensity • Frequency • Spatial scale (extent and distribution)

  6. Sage-Grouse and SagebrushSpace-time dimensions 100 Sage-Grouse range Management Zone Core areas Temporal scale (yr) Populations 10 Landscapes Habitat Sage-Grouse Leks Stands Management concepts Sites Disturbance space Shrubs Individuals 1 1,000 0.1 1,000,000 1 Spatial scale (km2)

  7. Thresholds 3%??

  8. Knick et al. 2013 • >3,200 leks across 6 states • 90% of leks had >40% sagebrush cover in landscape (mean cover around active leks >78%) • 99% of active leks were in landscapes with <3% developed

  9. Landscape Thresholds 40% 70 % Matrix Sagebrush

  10. Disturbance 3 % 5 % Matrix Sagebrush

  11. Landscape Thresholds 37% 65 % Matrix Sagebrush

  12. Birds occupy big, flat and undisturbed sagebrush landscapes Baruch-Mordo et al., in press

  13. Sage-grouse do best in landscapes with >70% sagebrush “Sagebrush from horizon to horizon”

  14. Sage-grouse have trouble persisting in landscapes with <40-50% sagebrush (Knick et al. 2013, Wisdom et al. 2011)

  15. Oregon Core Areas = 90% of birds on 38% of the range

  16. Take home points • Sage-grouse are highly aggregated • Multiple factors are related to lek persistence and could be used turned into thresholds, but human disturbance is being used by others • Research suggests that sage-grouse do not tolerate much habitat loss (Knick et al. 2013, Karl and Sadowski 2005, Wisdom et al. 2011) • 5% rule in Wyoming based on the footprint of a wellpad in a 1 sq. mile section (Naugle, Doherty) • 70/30 ODFW ratio based on Karl and Sadowski 2005, as well as other studies

  17. Recommendations • Need to specify the extent for applying the disturbance threshold • Will it be at the core area? • Will it be range wide? • NTT used two extents • The fine scale helps define when mitigation might be engaged, what the mitigation should be, and where it should occur • Range wide extent ensures long-term persistence of habitat • Consider the disturbance regime when considering the extent(s) • Define the disturbances that will be included

  18. Extra slides

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