Our new paper, lead by my colleagues at Colorado State University and published in the journal Ecological Applications, evaluates responses of sage-grouse population trends to the timing and level of grazing at broad spatial and temporal scales. We think this work is noteworthy because it deals with both an important species in the West (Greater Sage-grouse) and an important land-use related to livelihoods (grazing). The work could not have been accomplished without the use of two open data sources: 1) grazing records from the Bureau of Land Management, and 2) productivity data derived from the MODIS archive.
- Monroe, A.P., C.L. Aldridge, T.J. Assal, K.E. Veblen, D.A. Pyke, M.L. Casazza. 2017. Patterns in Greater Sage-grouse population dynamics correspond with public grazing records at broad scales. Ecological Applications. 27, 1096-1107. For more information, please see the USGS press release.
Top image: sage-grouse (center of image) photographed on Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge, Wyoming