Wildfire, Restoration, and Postwildfire Rehabilitation Effects on Wind Erosion in the Great Basin

Restoration of degraded areas and postdisturbance rehabilitation after wildfire encompass critical approaches for reducing and reversing impacts of wind erosion and sand and dust storms (SDS). However, the broad outcomes of dryland restoration and rehabilitation for wind erosion and SDS remain underexplored. Wind erosion is an emerging issue in the Great Basin of the western United States, exacerbated by invasive annual grasses and associated wildfire. Here, we assess potential wind erosion and SDS responses to wildfire, restoration, and postwildfire rehabilitation treatments at the regional scale in the Great Basin. We used 13 years of rangeland monitoring data, the Aeolian EROsion model, and the Land Treatment Digital Library to produce counterfactual model-predictions to estimate treatment effects. Our results, based on AERO model estimates of aeolian sediment flux, Q , revealed potential reductions across three management contexts compared to controls: 6.76 % decrease in Q in wildfire-affected regions, 54.3 and 58.0 % decrease in Q in for soil disturbance and aerial seeding restoration areas, and 49.8 to 56.0% decrease in Q in postwildfire rehabilitation treated sites. In particular, aerial seeding and soil disturbance restoration treatments, and postwildfire closure-treatments had higher perennial grass cover and the most decreased Q compared to untreated controls. These results represent an important regional scale assessment of wind erosion responses to restoration and postwildfire rehabilitation. Our findings underscore the application of integrating wind erosion and SDS mitigation into restoration and postdisturbance rehabilitation programs to provide land managers with strategies to reduce land degradation while fostering ecosystem resilience.