A Case for Adaptive Management of Rangelands’ Wicked Problems

Abstract

Sagebrush-steppe restoration has long been seen as a wicked problem—each case has multifaceted problems with no universal solutions—and thus managers have had to adopt adaptive management techniques to meet ever-changing landscape demands. In this study, we characterize the efficacy of an adaptive management plan in a severely degraded sagebrush-steppe winter range habitat for mule deer for 8 yr by monitoring the plant community. During this time, managers have actively managed juniper encroachment through felling and responded to a 2014 wildfire by applying herbicide and seeding for native and forage vegetation. We found that the adaptive management practices reduced annual invasive grasses by about half post fire and nearly doubled preferred herbaceous plants’ cover and biomass. However, these successes were only recorded in plots that received repeated treatments, whereas in plots that only received a single treatment post fire, invasive annual grasses returned to prefire cover. Despite these successes in recovering desired herbaceous composition, shrub regeneration was nearly nonexistent during the study period despite repeated attempts to seed.