Speak to me Lichen, How Stable is the Soil? Tell me its Disturbance History

Presenter Information

Roger Rosentreter, State Botanist, BLM IdahoFollow

Location

USU Eccles Conference Center

Event Website

http://www.restoringthewest.org/

Streaming Media

Comments

Biological soil crusts hold the soil surface together in all arid ecosystems of the world. These biological soil crusts are damaged by compressional and shear forces applied to the soil surface. Damaged soil surfaces are slow to heal. Energy exploration and development as well as livestock grazing repeatedly damage the soil surface. Loss of biological soil crusts leads to soil and wind erosion, lower nitrogen production, and an increase in invasive annual grasses. This change in species composition often goes unnoticed by the public and by rangeland managers. Such environmental modification cascades thru the ecosystem, simplifying plant and animal communities. Biological soil crust cover limits the germination and establishment of invasive annual grasses.

Roger Rosentreter, State Office Botanist, 1387 S. Vinnell Way, Boise, ID 83709, rrosentreter@blm.gov

Roger has a PhD in Botany from the University of Montana and has worked for the Bureau of Land Management in Idaho since 1978. He started as a member of a soil & vegetation crew, mapping the soils of Owyhee County, ID. He has worked on several large scale landscape projects such as the President’s Forest Plan and on the Interior Columbia Basin project. Roger has been an instructor and done field sampling for the National Forest Health Monitoring in both the eastern and western portions of the U.S. He is interested in: sagebrush-steppe habitats, the role of biological soil crusts, plant taxonomy, rangeland health monitoring, and plant palatability.