dedication point - season 4, episode 1: An Introduction to Desert Shrubland Restoration with Matt Germino

Matt Germino, supervisory research ecologist with USGS, has been leading a research team focused on restoration strategies and techniques in the Intermountain West since 2011, and he shares his wealth of knowledge on this topic here in this episode

episode summary:

This is the first episode of Season 4 of Dedication Point! Season 4 will be focused on restoration in the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA, and we're getting the conversation started with this fascinating interview with Matt Germino.

The Snake River canyon region was set aside as an NCA because of its uniquely high density of birds of prey. These raptors thrive in this area because of the abundance of both nesting opportunities along the cliff ledges and prey species just north of the canyon. The prey species - including paiute ground squirrels and black-tailed jackrabbits, which were discussed in great detail in season three - need a healthy sage-steppe ecosystem to continue to thrive.

Unfortunately - over half of the NCA’s 484,000 acres have experienced wildfire within the past several decades, and is now severely degraded. Many of these areas now consist of nothing but cheatgrass and other invasive annual grasses. What impact will this have on the area’s unique raptor populations moving forward? This is a big, looming question that many researchers are now seeking to answer, and while there remain lots of unknowns, there’s general agreement that this dramatic and large-scale shift in habitat type is not a good thing for birds of prey.

So we’re going to spend this season of Dedication Point talking about efforts to restore native ecosystems in the NCA. We’ll be interviewing experts about restoration attempts that have been made in the past, what has been successful, and what next steps should be taken in the future. We’ll also be exploring the practice of restoration, taking listeners through the process of implementing a native plant restoration program out in the shrublands of the NCA.

relevant links:

More about Matt Germino’s work at USGS