Introduction: An ecoregional assessment of the Wyoming Basins

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Abstract

The Wyoming Basins Ecoregional Assessment (WBEA) area in the western United States contains a number of important land cover types, including nearly one-fourth of the sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) in North America. Although relatively unappreciated until recent decades, the broad open landscapes dominated by sagebrush communities have received increasing attention for their ecological value and the resources that they contain (Knick and Connelly 2011). As many as 350 wildlife species depend on sagebrush ecosystems for all or part of their life requirements (Wisdom et al. 2005a). Within the WBEA, intact sagebrush landscapes provide an important stronghold for populations of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), recently listed as a candidate species under the Endangered Species Act (U.S. Department of the Interior 2010). Numerous other plant and vertebrate species of state or national concern also occur within the WBEA study area (Ch. 2). Conserving sagebrush ecosystems is a major conservation challenge that will require an understanding not only of current trajectories and scales of habitat change due to natural and anthropogenic disturbances (Leu and Hanser 2011), but also the potential exacerbation of these trends from climate change (Wiens and Bachelet 2010, Miller et al. 2011).

Study Area

Publication type Book chapter
Publication Subtype Book Chapter
Title Introduction: An ecoregional assessment of the Wyoming Basins
Chapter Introduction
ISBN 978-0-615-55530-0
Year Published 2011
Language English
Publisher Allen Press
Publisher location Lawrence, Kansas
Contributing office(s) Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Fort Collins Science Center
Description 9 p.
Larger Work Type Book
Larger Work Subtype Monograph
Larger Work Title Sagebrush ecosystem conservation and management: Ecoregional assessment tools and models for the Wyoming Basins
First page 1
Last page 9
Public Comments The U.S. Geological Survey has been given express permission by the publisher to provide full-text access online for this publication, and is posted with the express permission from the Publications Warehouse Guidance Subcommittee
Country United States
State Wyoming
Online Only (Y/N) N
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
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