Influence of Weather on Production Dynamics in Wyoming Big Sagebrush Steppe Across Plant Associations

High interannual variability in production occurs in many semiarid rangelands, including the perennialdominated sagebrush steppe, in response to variable weather conditions. Describing the effects of weather on the dynamics of sagebrush steppe has implications for a broad set of management objectives including forage and wildlife habitat. Here, we investigated the effects of seasonal weather and plant associations, related to abiotic characteristics, on herbaceous production dynamics across 44 intact, representative sagebrush steppe sites across eastern Oregon from 2003 to 2012. We tested for the effects of sampling year, lagged precipitation, and potential evapotranspiration predictors, as well as prior year biomass and plant association on production of major herbaceous functional groups. We also tested for synchrony across functional groups and plant associations. We found that spring precipitation was the most consistent predictor of production. However, several other variables including prior year weather significantly affected production. Production sensitivity to weather was combined with high synchrony across functional groups and associations, suggesting low potential for production stability associated with these factors in sagebrush steppe in the northern Great Basin. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of The Society for Range Management.

Automated summary

This study investigated the effects of seasonal weather and plant associations on herbaceous production dynamics in sagebrush steppe. The results showed that spring precipitation was the most consistent predictor of production.