In August 2024, the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (NC CASC) hosted a workshop at the University of Colorado Boulder with 24 experts from different agencies, institutions, and Tribal Nations to address the critical challenges facing the eastern sagebrush biome in Colorado, Montana and Wyoming. The sagebrush ecosystem, often referred to as the "Sagebrush Sea," is the largest continuous ecosystem in the continental United States. It provides critical habitat for a variety of species such as mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana), and greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus).

Besides being of great ecological importance, this biome also supports human activities like livestock grazing and recreation and holds significant cultural value. Since European settlement, the sagebrush biome has lost nearly 50 percent of its extent due to threats like overgrazing, invasive species, and land-use conversions. Those threats are now being compounded by climate change, which is bringing warmer temperatures, shifting precipitation patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events.

The primary objectives of the workshop were to promote a discussion to identify science synthesis, research and capacity-building needs critical to enabling climate adaptation in sagebrush ecosystems. The discussions emphasized the need for:

• Evaluation of Management Practices: Investigating the efficacy of existing management practices under varying climatic conditions and ecological responses.
• Understanding Social-Ecological Values: Investigating what communities value in sagebrush landscapes and assessing acceptable levels of ecological transformation.
• Improving Understanding of Ecological Responses: Clarifying and integrating uncertainties in forecasting future plant responses by considering direct and indirect climatic effects and interaction between factors.
• Tool and Dataset Development: Determining the provision of the resources, at relevant scales, which underpin climate-informed management decisions.
• Enhancing Stakeholder Engagement: Nurturing and strengthening relationships with stakeholders, rightsholders, and communities in the sagebrush biome.

The workshop also emphasized the need for incorporating Indigenous knowledge and values, particularly those pertaining to Tribal communities, in conservation planning. In recognizing past marginalization of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, workshop participants noted that clear and ethical collaboration with Tribal nations can help improve conservation efforts.

As a next step, the NC CASC will establish a Science Synthesis Working Group that will embark on a two-year effort to address one or more of the identified priority research gaps and capacity needs. The effort will provide actionable guidance for management decisions driven by climate considerations in order to ensure the resilience of the sagebrush ecosystem and the communities dependent on it.

These proceedings represent a significant step in understanding and mitigating climate change impacts to the sagebrush biome and foster a collaborative approach to conservation that integrates science and community perspectives.

To read more about the workshop’s findings, please click here.