[PCA] ARTICLE: New Native Forbs Support Sage-Grouse and Native Pollinator Habitat

[De Angelis, Patricia]

From: USDA-NRCS PLANT MATERIALS PROGRAM
By Derek Tilley and Joe Scianna, Idaho and Montana Plant Materials Center
Managers

The sagebrush steppe represents one of the largest ecosystems in North
America, covering much of the Intermountain West, including parts of 13
western states and 3 Canadian provinces. Significant efforts are underway
across the west to conserve and restore sagebrush steppe, especially to
reverse long-term declines in habitat quantity and quality for obligate
wildlife species like the potentially threatened greater sage-grouse
(Centrocercus urophasianus). The greater sage-grouse is an upland bird that
requires habitat with a diverse plant community to provide forage and a
supply of insects to feed its young. In addition to eating sagebrush, they
eat the leaves and flowers of soft, succulent forbs, and they eat insects
which visit the plants.

To help increase habitat quality for greater sage-grouse and other wildlife
species, including native pollinators, there is an ever-growing demand to
increase the biodiversity of rangeland restoration seedings and restore
rangelands with native plant species, especially native forbs. Native forbs
increase plant community diversity, provide resistance to disturbance, and
help facilitate nutrient cycling. Forbs can also hinder the invasion of
nonnative plant species by stabilizing disturbed areas, reducing erosion,
and increasing competition for available resources.

The USDA-NRCS Plant Materials Centers in Idaho and Montana are contributing
to sagebrush steppe restoration efforts by developing and testing new
sources of native forb species to add to the conservation toolbox.

Read more:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/plantmaterials/home/?cid=NRCSEPRD1378070
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