The Climate Change Connection

The SageSTEP study design will allow us to evaluate:

How predicted warmer temperatures in the Interior U.S. could affect abundance and distribution of sagebrush steppe plants and animals.
For example, does climate change cause a regional shift of ecotone species like songbirds?
Climate change effects on lands differentially dominated by summer (SE sites) versus winter (NW sites) precipitation patterns.
For example, how much does spring soil moisture influence the recovery of native bunchgrasses after treatment and how are temporal patterns in soil moisture affected by climate change?
The extent to which restoration treatments influence plant and animal response to climate change.
How relationships within ecosystems might be altered by climate change.
For example, how does climate change affect hydrologic processes and resulting effects on vegetation?
The relationships among land management treatment, carbon sequestration, and climate change across a region spanning a range of typical weather conditions.
For example, how might above- and belowground carbon budgets be influenced by climate change?