Industrial Land-use and the Conservation of Native Biota in the Shrub-steppe Region of Western North America

Abstract

The Bitterbrush-Sagebrush/Cheatgrass vegetation-type occupies about 300 km 2 on the US Department of Energy's Hanford Site in the shrub-steppe region of southeastern Washington State. Prior to 1943, part of the land was used for irrigated agriculture and the remainder as grazing land for domestic livestock. In 1943, farming and livestock grazing were terminated and the resident human population was relocated. Use of the land since 1943 has been industrial, mostly for nuclear energy development. The land is not available for public use and shooting of wildlife is prohibited. Nuclear energy development on the Hanford Site consists of a few large buildings that are widely separated, with undeveloped land in between which supports native plants and animals. This undeveloped land provides habitats for native species that are not adapted to intensive irrigated agriculture—a potential use of almost all of the land in the Bitterbrush-Sagebrush vegetation type. The primary disturbance to vegetation is wildfire. Fire destroys Bitterbrush and Sagebrush and these plants are slow to recolonize the burns. Other species are less affected by burning and are capable of quick recovery. The industrial use of the land provides a potential for the ecological study of self-revegetation of abandoned ploughed ground and the response of biota to wildfire.