Monitoring Sagebrush-Steppe Vegetation in the Upper Columbia Basin Network

The Upper Columbia Basin Network of the National Park Service has identified 14 priority parkvital signs, indicators of ecosystem health, which represent a broad suite of ecologicalphenomena operating across multiple temporal and spatial scales. Our intent has been to monitora balanced and integrated "package" of vital signs that meets the needs of current parkmanagement, but will also be able to accommodate unanticipated environmental conditions inthe future. Sagebrush steppe is one...
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The Upper Columbia Basin Network of the National Park Service has identified 14 priority parkvital signs, indicators of ecosystem health, which represent a broad suite of ecologicalphenomena operating across multiple temporal and spatial scales. Our intent has been to monitora balanced and integrated "package" of vital signs that meets the needs of current parkmanagement, but will also be able to accommodate unanticipated environmental conditions inthe future. Sagebrush steppe is one particularly high priority vital sign for five UCBN parks: Cityof Rocks National Reserve (CIRO), Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve(CRMO), Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument (HAFO), John Day Fossil Beds NationalMonument (JODA), and Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area (LARO). Sagebrush steppeoccupies over 50% of land cover in CIRO, HAFO, and JODA, and over 90% of the vegetatedarea of CRMO. At LARO, sagebrush steppe is present and significant in the southern half of thepark and represents an important park ecosystem. Historic and current land use practices bothwithin and adjacent to UCBN park steppe communities continue to fragment and alter steppeecosystems, and predicted climate change scenarios for the region will likely exacerbate thesechanges.