Sorex preblei in the northern Great Basin

The Great Basin naturalist, 1984

The Common Loon, White Pehcan, Double-crested Cormorant, recurvirostrids, and most grebes, waterfowl, gulls, and terns have become more abundant in Uintah Countv, Utah, since 1937 (Twomev 1942) due to the establishment of Pelican Lake and adjacent water bodies and the ponds and mar.shes at Ouray National Wildlife Refuge and Pariette Wetlands Wildlife Management Area. The incidence of herons, egrets, thrushes, nuthatches, and icterids has generally remained about the same since 1937. Diurnal raptors have largely declined in abundance in the desert region of Uintah Coimty since Twomey's (1942) study. Plovers, sandpipers, phalaropes, and the Whitefaced Ibis were generally less common in 1977-1982 than in 1937, perhaps chieflv due to their displacement from wintering grounds by human population expansion and agricultural and industrial development. The incidence of owl species remains constant. Most flycatchers, swallows, warblers, vireos, orioles, and emberizids have diminished in number since 1937, probably because of the shrinkage of their winter habitats in Latin America and the southwestern U.S. The Blue Crosbeak and Black-throated Sparrow were not recorded in Uintah County in 1937 but were foimd there during this study and may represent a range extension northward since 1937. The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is more common now than in 1937 due to the northward extension of its range. The Starling and Rock Dove and, more recently, the Common Crackle, Great-tailed Crackle, and Cattle Egret have invaded Uintah County due to the expansion of their ranges. It is not clear why the Pine Siskin, House Finch, and most corvids are presently less common than in 1937. Description of the Desert Region of Uintah County Uintah County, Utah (11,425 kms), ahnost as large as Connecticut (12,973 km^) and over twice as large as Delaware (5,328 km-), is in northeastern Utah in the Colorado Plateau province (Breed 1976). I performed wildlife surveys on oil shale lands there from 1977 to 1982. Most observations included in this paper were made on lands or in the proximity of roads leading between oil shale leases and Vernal. Thus, this work is limited to sightings occurring in the lowlands of Uintah County. In this study, the desert region of Uintah County (principally at 1,400-1,675 m) includes desert scrub (or shrub, Graham 1937), desert-riparian (Fremont cottonwood-Pop?/his fremontii, sandbar willow-So/h' exigua, peach-leaf willowS. amygdaloides, tamavix-Tamarix pentandra Pall, and box elder-Acer negundo; Graham 1937, Welsh and Moore 1973), and lowland pond, marsh, and lake habitats as well as agricultural and urban land. Plants along Green River at Split Mountain Campground in Dinosaur National Monument, including yellow willow {Salix lutea) and willow (S. monticola), are considered to constitute desert-riparian habitat although they exist in the transition zone between the latter and montane-riparian habitat. Vegetation along Ashley Creek at the mouth of Dry Fork Canyon (1830 m) and in and near Merkley Park (1830 m), consisting of thin-leaved aider-Alder tenuifolia, river birch-Betiila occidentalis, narrowleaf Cottonwood-Fopf//!/.s angustifoJia, red osier dogwood-Cornf<.s stolonifera, yellow willow-Sa//.r lutea, willow-So/ix lasiandra Benth., and bush honeysuckle-Lon/cera involucrato (Graham 1937, Welsh and Moore 1973), is considered to be montane-riparian habitat. Juniper-pinyon woodlands in Uintah County are not considered to be part of its desert region. Geographic Locations and Dates of Avian Sightings MADE BY Other Observers Behle (1981) reviewed most of the ornithological work that occurred in the desert region of Uintah County. Other important avian studies there are reviewed as follows.

Rangeland Ecology & Management, 2010

Dominant plant species are often used as indicators of site potential in forest and rangelands. However, subspecies of dominant vegetation often indicate different site characteristics and, therefore, may be more useful indicators of plant community potential and provide more precise information for management. Big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) occurs across large expanses of the western United States. Common subspecies of big sagebrush have considerable variation in the types of sites they occupy, but information that quantifies differences in their vegetation characteristics is lacking. Consequently, wildlife and land management guidelines frequently do not differentiate between subspecies of big sagebrush. To quantify vegetation characteristics between two common subspecies of big sagebrush, we sampled 106 intact big sagebrush plant communities. Half of the sampled plant communities were Wyoming big sagebrush (A. tridentata subsp. wyomingensis [Beetle & A. Young] S. L. Welsh) plant communities, and the other half were mountain big sagebrush (A. tridentata subsp. vaseyana [Rydb.] Beetle) plant communities. In general, mountain big sagebrush plant communities were more diverse and had greater vegetation cover, density, and biomass production than Wyoming big sagebrush plant communities. Sagebrush cover was, on average, 2.4-fold higher in mountain big sagebrush plant communities. Perennial forb density and cover were 3.8-and 5.6-fold greater in mountain compared to Wyoming big sagebrush plant communities. Total herbaceous biomass production was approximately twofold greater in mountain than Wyoming big sagebrush plant communities. The results of this study suggest that management guidelines for grazing, wildlife habitat, and other uses should recognize widespread subspecies as indicators of differences in site potentials.

Native Plants Journal, 2009

Bibliography was developed out of a need expressed by many people in the Wildlife Division of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks who have persevered, some for more than 40 years, in the struggle to conserve sagebrush.

2011

Selection of species of concern is a critical early step in conducting broad-scale ecological assessments for conservation planning and management. Many criteria can be used to guide this selection, such as conservation status, existing knowledge base, and association with plant communities of interest. In conducting the Wyoming Basins Ecoregional Assessment (WBEA), we followed a step-wise process to select vascular plant and vertebrate species of concern. Based on our selection process, we identified 65 taxa of sagebrush-associated (Artemisia spp.) vascular plants of conservation concern. The vast majority were forbs, and nearly all are found in Wyoming (n = 59; 91%), reflecting its central location and spatial dominance (51%) of the study area. Forty-eight plants (74%) were ranked either S1 or S2 (state-level ranks indicating imperilment due to rarity, threats, or other factors) in at least one state within the assessment area. Forty vertebrates of concern were selected for our as...

2004

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2000

Listed in alphabetical order by author are 934 references to literature of the native vegetation of Nevada and Utah. This updates and expands the 1967 bibliography of Christensen for Utah. A keyword-citation index is provided.

2000