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The Great Basin of the western United States is experiencing dramatic increases in wildfire and Bromus species invasion that potentially accelerate wind erosion and plant community change. We used a wind erosion model parameterized for rangelands and standard ecological monitoring data sets collected at 10,779 locations from 2011 to 2019 to characterize potential wind erosion in the Great Basin, assess relationships between factors affecting wind erosion, and quantify effects of wildfire and invasive Bromus species on aeolian horizontal sediment flux, Q. There were 403 monitoring plots (∼3.7% of plots) with Q > 100 g m−1 d−1. Median values for the highest Q category (>100) ranged from 196.5 to 308.5 g m−1 d−1. Locations with Q > 100 g m−1 d−1 were associated with dry, low elevation areas of the Great Basin with low perennial grass and perennial forb cover, and with large bare gaps between plants. Areas with high perennial grass, perennial forb, and shrub cover had small Q (≤10 g m−1 d−1). Substantial wind erosion was predicted in areas that have experienced wildfires, but areas with multiple wildfires had a lower predicted probability of Q particularly as invasive Bromus species cover increased. Modeled Q was up to two orders of magnitude higher post‐wildfire (median 44.2 g m−1 d−1) than in intact or annual grass‐invaded regions of the Great Basin (median 0.4 g m−1 d−1). Our results reveal the complex interplay among plant community composition, wildfire, and the amount of bare ground controlling wind erosion on Great Basin rangelands. Plain Language Summary: The Great Basin in the western United States is experiencing increasing disturbances due to wildfire exacerbated by the invasion of non‐native plant species, which can potentially accelerate wind erosion. We used a wind erosion and dust emission model to identify regions in the Great Basin susceptible to wind erosion using data collected in 2011–2019. We investigated the relationship between indices of plant cover and amount of bare ground that control wind erosion to the outputs from the wind erosion model. Lastly, we investigated how wildfire frequency and invasive plant species cover were related to the probability of wind erosion in the Great Basin. We found areas with large wind erosion rates were in dry, low‐elevation areas, with large bare gaps between plants. High total foliar cover resulted in low magnitudes of wind erosion. The number of repeat wildfires and increasing invasive plant species cover reduced the probability of wind erosion. However, post‐fire wind erosion can be extremely high in areas with invasive annual grass cover. We demonstrated the complex interactions among plant cover and composition, wildfire, and wind erosion in the Great Basin. Key Points: Great Basin wind erosion is associated with dry and low‐elevation areas with large amounts of bare groundLittle aeolian sediment transport occurs in sagebrush steppe where perennial grasses, forbs, and shrub cover are extensiveBromus species cover suppresses wind erosion except following wildfire when pulses of aeolian sediment transport increase by orders of magnitude [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Prescribed fire promoted herbaceous growth in bare interspaces. • Litter enhanced infiltration and provided protection against erosion. • Increased vegetation cover altered flow paths and reduced runoff and soil loss. • Reduced soil surface connectivity post-fire improved hydrologic function. • Hydrologic function continues to improve 9 yr after fire. Woody species encroachment into herbaceous and shrub-dominated vegetations is a concern in many rangeland ecosystems of the world. Arrival of woody species into affected rangelands leads to changes in the spatial structure of vegetation and alterations of biophysical processes. In the western USA, encroachment of pinyon (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) tree species into sagebrush steppes poses a threat to the proper ecohydrological functioning of these ecosystems. Prescribed fire has been proposed and used as one rangeland improvement practice to restore sagebrush steppe from pinyon-juniper encroachment. Short-term effects of burning on the ecohydrologic response of these systems have been well documented and often include a period of increased hydrologic and erosion vulnerability immediately after burning. Long-term ecohydrologic response of sagebrush steppe ecosystems to fire is poorly understood due to lack of cross-scale studies on treated sites. The aim of this study is to evaluate long-term vegetation, hydrologic, and erosion responses at two pinyon-juniper-encroached sagebrush sites 9 years after prescribed fire was applied as a restoration treatment. Thirty-six rainfall simulation experiments on 6 m × 2 m plots were conducted for 45 min under two conditions: a dry run (70 mm h−1; dry antecedent soils) and a wet run (111 mm h−1; wet antecedent soils). Runoff and erosion responses were compared between burned and unburned plots. Overall, increases in herbaceous cover in the shrub-interspace areas (intercanopy area between trees) at both sites 9 years post-burn resulted in runoff- and erosion-reduction benefits, especially under the wet runs. While the initially more degraded site characterized by 80% bare ground pre-burn, registered a higher overall increase (40% increase) in canopy cover, greater post-fire reductions in runoff and erosion were observed at the less degraded site (57% bare ground pre-burn). Runoff and erosion for the wet runs decreased respectively by 6.5-fold and 76-fold at the latter site on the burned plots relative to control plots, whereas these decreases were more muted at the more degraded site (2.5 and 3-fold respectively). Significant fragmentation of flow paths observed at the more-degraded site 9 years post-fire, suggests a decreased hydrologic connectivity as a mechanism of runoff and erosion reduction during post-fire recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]