Field technicians collect soil samples and monitor plants in an invasive grass dominated sagebrush steppe ecosystem in Colorado. The team measured carbon levels at two soil depths at undisturbed sites, sites that have been burned and invaded, areas that are unburned but invaded, and sites that were burned but not invaded.
Matthew J Germino
I am a Supervisory Research Ecologist at the Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center in Boise, Idaho
I am interested in plant-soil-environment relationships, with a focus on forest and rangelands; post-fire rehabilitation and restoration, invasive species, integrating science and adaptive land management.
Science and Products
FIREss: Fire, Invasives, and Rehabilitation of Shrub-Steppe Rangelands
The USGS FIREss team produces basic and applied scientific information needed to manage semiarid landscapes for resistance and resilience to wildfire, exotic plant invasions, and drought. These stressors impact ecosystem productivity and pose costly risks to health, safety, and economic wellbeing in the vast rangelands, protected areas, and military installations of the Western United States. We...
Filter Total Items: 23
Invasives
As exotic annual grasses and the wildfires they promote become more common, the FIREss team in combats them with science-based solutions. In post-fire sagebrush steppe landscapes, invasive annual grasses grow fast and quickly fill in many of the spaces left open by perennial vegetation lost to the fire. Cheatgrass, a common invasive annual grass, is particularly problematic because it colonizes...
Post-Fire Restoration
Exotic plant invasions and increasing wildfire have greatly impacted rangelands in the American West, particularly areas that normally support perennial shrub-steppe vegetation. The FIREss team produces science to inform proactive and reactive management of sagebrush steppe with the goal of increasing resistance to invasion and resilience to wildfire. Many on the team participate in fire...
Predicting Burn Risk to Land Management Investments
Land management treatments in sagebrush steppe are an important opportunity to break the annual-grass fire cycle, provided they offer long-lasting resistance to annual-grass invasion and do not burn. However, for areas seeded as part of the Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation (ESR) program-- one of the largest programs for land management treatments-- about 1/4 have at least partially...
Impacts of Exotic Annual Grass Invasion, Wildfire, and Restoration on Carbon Storage in the Sagebrush Steppe
USGS is investigating the impact of the annual grass-fire cycle-- and restoration land treatments aimed at slowing that cycle-- on carbon storage in dryland soils.
The Impact of Climate-Driven Phenological Shifts on Cheatgrass in Western North America
Climate change-induced warming can alter plant phenology and disrupt ecosystems like the sagebrush steppe in western North America. The invasive annual grass cheatgrass can thrive under these altered conditions, exacerbating wildfires and threatening wildlife habitat, carbon storage, and other important ecosystem services. We are studying how different densities of cheatgrass respond to increased...
Using Vegetation Trends and Fire Risk Simulations to Prioritize Management Interventions on National Park Service Lands in Southern Idaho
City of Rocks National Reserve and Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve are lands managed by the National Park Service that contain ecologically valuable stands of sagebrush and unique forest communities that are at risk due to wildfire and invasion by exotic annual grasses. We are working to determine the extent of invasion and to provide park managers with wildfire risk assessments...
Understanding the Sagebrush Steppe’s Threshold for Transitions Through Resistance and Resilience Models
We are investigating ecosystem transitions and thresholds in the sagebrush steppe, studying factors influencing the shift from native to invaded plant communities after disturbances like fire. Our research tests region-wide resistance and resilience models, focusing on real-world recovery patterns, pre-fire conditions, plant succession, and land management treatments.
The Effect of Pre-Emergent Herbicides on Soil in The Sagebrush Steppe
We are studying how herbicides sprayed onto soil to prevent the establishment of exotic annual grasses such as cheatgrass may impact the health, growth resources and microbiota of soils in sagebrush-steppe, where herbicide use is an important and common tool. Our findings will help make herbicide applications more successful.
Longevity of Herbicides Targeting Exotic Annual Grasses in Sagebrush-Steppe Soils
Pre-emergent herbicides applied to soil are a primary tool for reducing exotic annual grasses, such as cheatgrass, in sagebrush steppe rangelands. Effective herbicide application can allow existing perennials to grow and spread to outcompete cheatgrass, preventing reinvasion, but most perennials are slow-growing and require more years of relief from annual-grass competition than standard...
Vegetation and Fuel Responses to Linear Fuel-Break Treatments in and around Burned Sagebrush Steppe
After the Soda Wildfire burned nearly 280,000 acres of public and private land in southwest Idaho, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Emergency and Rehabilitation and Stabilization program (ESR) applied herbicide and seeding treatments to prevent exotic annual grass invasion and restore native vegetation. To reduce the threat of future wildfire, the BLM also constructed a network of linear...
Grazing Effects on the Annual Grass Fire-Cycle after Post Fire Management
In order to break the annual grass fire-cycle in the sagebrush steppe, land managers use pre-emergent herbicides to reduce annual grass populations and seeding to increase fire-tolerant perennials. These tools must be applied to the same soils in ways that are not counterproductive, and their application must therefore be staggered in time, which we refer to as layering. Livestock grazing can also...
Systematic Review and Analysis of Seeding and Herbicide Treatment in the Sagebrush Steppe
Seeding and herbicide treatments are a key aspect of the strategy used to break the annual grass-fire cycle in sagebrush steppe. However, past studies report considerable variability in the effectiveness of seeding and herbicide treatments. To generate a more consistent interpretation of post-fire herbicide and seeding effects, we are compiling, reviewing, and synthesizing findings from past...
Collecting soil samples in a cheatgrass-invaded landscape
Field technicians collect soil samples and monitor plants in an invasive grass dominated sagebrush steppe ecosystem in Colorado. The team measured carbon levels at two soil depths at undisturbed sites, sites that have been burned and invaded, areas that are unburned but invaded, and sites that were burned but not invaded.
Science and Products
FIREss: Fire, Invasives, and Rehabilitation of Shrub-Steppe Rangelands
The USGS FIREss team produces basic and applied scientific information needed to manage semiarid landscapes for resistance and resilience to wildfire, exotic plant invasions, and drought. These stressors impact ecosystem productivity and pose costly risks to health, safety, and economic wellbeing in the vast rangelands, protected areas, and military installations of the Western United States. We...
Filter Total Items: 23
Invasives
As exotic annual grasses and the wildfires they promote become more common, the FIREss team in combats them with science-based solutions. In post-fire sagebrush steppe landscapes, invasive annual grasses grow fast and quickly fill in many of the spaces left open by perennial vegetation lost to the fire. Cheatgrass, a common invasive annual grass, is particularly problematic because it colonizes...
Post-Fire Restoration
Exotic plant invasions and increasing wildfire have greatly impacted rangelands in the American West, particularly areas that normally support perennial shrub-steppe vegetation. The FIREss team produces science to inform proactive and reactive management of sagebrush steppe with the goal of increasing resistance to invasion and resilience to wildfire. Many on the team participate in fire...
Predicting Burn Risk to Land Management Investments
Land management treatments in sagebrush steppe are an important opportunity to break the annual-grass fire cycle, provided they offer long-lasting resistance to annual-grass invasion and do not burn. However, for areas seeded as part of the Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation (ESR) program-- one of the largest programs for land management treatments-- about 1/4 have at least partially...
Impacts of Exotic Annual Grass Invasion, Wildfire, and Restoration on Carbon Storage in the Sagebrush Steppe
USGS is investigating the impact of the annual grass-fire cycle-- and restoration land treatments aimed at slowing that cycle-- on carbon storage in dryland soils.
The Impact of Climate-Driven Phenological Shifts on Cheatgrass in Western North America
Climate change-induced warming can alter plant phenology and disrupt ecosystems like the sagebrush steppe in western North America. The invasive annual grass cheatgrass can thrive under these altered conditions, exacerbating wildfires and threatening wildlife habitat, carbon storage, and other important ecosystem services. We are studying how different densities of cheatgrass respond to increased...
Using Vegetation Trends and Fire Risk Simulations to Prioritize Management Interventions on National Park Service Lands in Southern Idaho
City of Rocks National Reserve and Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve are lands managed by the National Park Service that contain ecologically valuable stands of sagebrush and unique forest communities that are at risk due to wildfire and invasion by exotic annual grasses. We are working to determine the extent of invasion and to provide park managers with wildfire risk assessments...
Understanding the Sagebrush Steppe’s Threshold for Transitions Through Resistance and Resilience Models
We are investigating ecosystem transitions and thresholds in the sagebrush steppe, studying factors influencing the shift from native to invaded plant communities after disturbances like fire. Our research tests region-wide resistance and resilience models, focusing on real-world recovery patterns, pre-fire conditions, plant succession, and land management treatments.
The Effect of Pre-Emergent Herbicides on Soil in The Sagebrush Steppe
We are studying how herbicides sprayed onto soil to prevent the establishment of exotic annual grasses such as cheatgrass may impact the health, growth resources and microbiota of soils in sagebrush-steppe, where herbicide use is an important and common tool. Our findings will help make herbicide applications more successful.
Longevity of Herbicides Targeting Exotic Annual Grasses in Sagebrush-Steppe Soils
Pre-emergent herbicides applied to soil are a primary tool for reducing exotic annual grasses, such as cheatgrass, in sagebrush steppe rangelands. Effective herbicide application can allow existing perennials to grow and spread to outcompete cheatgrass, preventing reinvasion, but most perennials are slow-growing and require more years of relief from annual-grass competition than standard...
Vegetation and Fuel Responses to Linear Fuel-Break Treatments in and around Burned Sagebrush Steppe
After the Soda Wildfire burned nearly 280,000 acres of public and private land in southwest Idaho, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Emergency and Rehabilitation and Stabilization program (ESR) applied herbicide and seeding treatments to prevent exotic annual grass invasion and restore native vegetation. To reduce the threat of future wildfire, the BLM also constructed a network of linear...
Grazing Effects on the Annual Grass Fire-Cycle after Post Fire Management
In order to break the annual grass fire-cycle in the sagebrush steppe, land managers use pre-emergent herbicides to reduce annual grass populations and seeding to increase fire-tolerant perennials. These tools must be applied to the same soils in ways that are not counterproductive, and their application must therefore be staggered in time, which we refer to as layering. Livestock grazing can also...
Systematic Review and Analysis of Seeding and Herbicide Treatment in the Sagebrush Steppe
Seeding and herbicide treatments are a key aspect of the strategy used to break the annual grass-fire cycle in sagebrush steppe. However, past studies report considerable variability in the effectiveness of seeding and herbicide treatments. To generate a more consistent interpretation of post-fire herbicide and seeding effects, we are compiling, reviewing, and synthesizing findings from past...
Collecting soil samples in a cheatgrass-invaded landscape
Field technicians collect soil samples and monitor plants in an invasive grass dominated sagebrush steppe ecosystem in Colorado. The team measured carbon levels at two soil depths at undisturbed sites, sites that have been burned and invaded, areas that are unburned but invaded, and sites that were burned but not invaded.
Field technicians collect soil samples and monitor plants in an invasive grass dominated sagebrush steppe ecosystem in Colorado. The team measured carbon levels at two soil depths at undisturbed sites, sites that have been burned and invaded, areas that are unburned but invaded, and sites that were burned but not invaded.