Maintaining Resilient Dryland Ecosystems
The Maintaining Resilient Dryland Ecosystems (MRDE) program investigates the biology, use, management, and restoration of grasses and shrublands. Scientists, professional technicians, and support staff with the MRDE Program develop and deliver scientific knowledge, technology and tools that will enable people to sustain and restore grasslands, shrublands, and deserts under increasing threats from expanding human-related uses, invasive species, changing disturbance patterns, and climate changes.
Nearly all of the 21 National Grasslands are within the territory covered by the Rocky Mountain Research Station, making research on the national grasslands an important Rocky Mountain Research Station niche. Our scientists conduct research on fire, invasive species, plant communities, plant genetics and wildlife on national grasslands.
In 2001 Maintaining Resilient Dryland Ecosystems and the Bureau of Land Management initiated the multi-state Great Basin Native Plant Project. Now with over 25 collaborators, the project continues to improve the availability of native plant materials and to provide the knowledge and technology required for their use in restoring diverse native plant communities across the Great Basin.
Members of the MRDE Program are located at seven laboratories in six states in the intermountain West (Cedar City, UT and Reno, NV), Rocky Mountains (Boise and Moscow, ID), northern Great Plains (Bozeman, MT and Rapid City, SD), and American Southwest (Albuquerque, NM).