Sagebrush steppe habitat in the rolling hills of central Washington state

In addition to being among the most endangered ecosystems of the western United States, sagebrush steppe ecosystems are also ecologically, economically, and culturally significant.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identifies sagebrush ecosystems as crucial habitat for over 350 species of plants and wildlife. In the Colockum Wildlife Area adjacent to Malaga County, sagebrush steppe habitat provides critical winter habitat for mule deer and elk, and a plethora of pollinators and songbirds.

Sagebrush steppe is also important to the ranching industry from an economic standpoint, as livestock graze nearly all sagebrush habitats. However, livestock grazing is a main contributor to degradation of the ecosystem¹. Culturally, sagebrush steppe habitats have long held value for humans, particularly for the Native American peoples, who use these habitats for traditional practices such as hunting and harvesting medicinal resources.

The left photo is Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and the right is Rocky Mountain Elk (Cervus canadensis nelsoni).

Unfortunately, wildfires, livestock grazing, and invasion by non-native annual grasses have created a harmful positive feedback loop of increased wildfire size and frequency and further non-native plant invasion.

To help increase understanding about the importance of sagebrush steppe, Chelan County and Malaga-Colockum Community Council are re-creating a sagebrush steppe habitat demonstration area as part of a larger park revitalization project, in Malaga Community Park, in Washington State, USA. Read more about the project through their media announcement.

Characteristics of Sagebrush Steppe

Sagebrush steppe habitat, in Washington state, is characterized by high winds, hot summers, cold winters and limited water availability. Typically, this ecosystem receives only 12 inches (30 cm) of precipitation per year, and much of it falls as snow². These tough conditions are what makes this ecosystem so unique, because the native plants have developed interesting adaptations to survive.

In a healthy sagebrush steppe ecosystem, it is normal to see areas of bare ground that seem empty. This is because you are seeing only half the picture.  Underground there is a vast root system of native plants stretching far vertically and horizontally (illustration 1). This distinctive root network is a water conservation adaptation that helps native plants survive droughts. An interesting example is Bluebunch Wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) which has two types of roots: coarse, penetrating roots that draw water from the underground water table, as well as small, widely dispersed roots that absorb water quickly after rainstorms³.

Illustration 1: sagebrush steppe root systems versus invasive cheatgrass. Sagebrush, Maiden blue-eyed Mary, Bottlebrush Squirelltail, Sandberg Bluegrass, Lupine, Buckwheat, Bluebunch Wheatgrass and Thickspike Wheatgrass are all native to the sagebrush steppe habitat. Cheatgrass to the right of the illustration is an invasive weed. This illustration was reprinted with permission by Working Lands for Wildlife: https://www.wlfw.org/.

Threats to Sagebrush Steppe Habitats

Healthy, undisturbed, sagebrush steppe ecosystems are adapted to limit invasion by non-native annual grasses. For example, a healthy root network helps make water and nutrient resources unavailable to undesirable invasive annual grasses, and the areas of bare ground limit the spread of wildfires.  However, degradation of this ecosystem due to climate change and other human-induced activities has made it so that non-native plant invasion is common and wildfires are more frequent.

For example, increased frequency and intensity of droughts due to climate change, combined with wildfires, agriculture, and livestock grazing can lead to soil loss, and therefore the loss of native grasses and shrubs is important to the ecology of the ecosystem⁴. On top of that, wildfires and severe droughts can benefit the spread of highly invasive plants like cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum). The combination of drought, wildfires, soil loss, and invasive plant proliferation leaves sagebrush habitats with little chance of recovering without ecological restoration.

Dense smoke rising from massive wildfire burning in Washington state

As such, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife recently added sagebrush ecosystems as a priority habitat for protection and restoration, as they are often first to be degraded and developed. To help combat the degradation of this priority habitat, Chelan County and Malaga-Colockum Community Council are implementing standards-based restoration of a demonstration sagebrush steppe habitat in Malaga Community Park.

Restoring Sagebrush Steppe in Malaga Community Park

A portion of the grant from SER’s Standards-based Ecological Restoration in Action program in collaboration with Microsoft's Datacenter Community Affairs team will be used to restore a native sagebrush steppe plant community in the park. Located just west of the Malaga Market, the park was purchased in 2004 by the Malaga-Colockum Community Council, and serves a growing community of about 4,500 people.

The location for the sagebrush steppe restoration demonstration area is in an old debris field that is currently invaded by cheatgrass. The first step for this restoration project is to remove all the debris and cheatgrass from the area and plant native sagebrush steppe grasses and shrubs. The long-term strategy is to reestablish a healthy sagebrush steppe habitat that will outcompete invasive grasses, thus limiting the spread of cheatgrass throughout the park.

This grant will help support the past and ongoing community volunteer engagement at Malaga Community Park, expanding their capacity to improve the condition of the park and to re-create this demonstration area of a healthy sagebrush steppe area.

In addition to the community benefits, this restoration project will be beneficial for wildlife, since the area is adjacent to open land. Restoring native sagebrush steppe plant communities helps to protect and enhance habitat for pollinators and nesting bird species in Chelan County. This restored area will support a variety of wildflowers that provide food throughout the season for pollinator species like the Lorquin's admiral butterfly (Limenitis lorquini) and grasses and shrubs for birds that nest in sagebrush ecosystems like the Sagebrush Sparrow (Artemisiospiza nevadensis).

Left photo is a Sagebrush Sparrow (Artemisiospiza nevadensis) in winter by Tim Lenz/Flickr (CC BY 2.0), the right impage is an Lorquin's admiral butterfly (Limenitis lorquini)

By removing the debris and addressing the invasive weeds and degraded plant community in the unused portion of the existing park, this project will increase biodiversity and restore a native sagebrush steppe plant community. Restoration of this habitat will provide important habitat for a wide range of animals that rely on sagebrush for food and shelter in this region, where these habitats are rapidly being lost for agricultural and development purposes.

Once complete, this restoration project will provide a demonstration site for the community to gather and learn about this unique habitat. Detailed signage will be developed in collaboration with the Wenatchee tribe, whose traditional territory encompasses Malaga Community Park. 

Microsoft is proud to collaborate with Society and Ecological Restoration to deliver standards-based ecological restoration with the Drake University and Polk County Conservation in West Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa. Learn more here.

Footnotes

 

1. The National Wildlife Federation, Sagebrush Steppe

2. Washington State Magazine, Pacific Northwest sagebrush steppe

3. Chelan-Douglas Land Trust, Shrub-Steppe Plant Ecology

4. The National Wildlife Federation, Sagebrush Steppe