Fringed sagebrush has tremendous reproductive potential which enables it to spread, reseed, and invade new sites. Annual seed production appears to be somewhat eratic. Typically less than 50 percent of the plants form seed even in favorable years. The light seeds are readily dispersed by wind. Fringed sagebrush is widely distributed over a range of habitats.
Fringed sagebrush is well represented in both seral and climax communities.
These species are extremely tolerant of fluctuating, adverse environmental conditions. The transitional fringed sagebrush community replaces this earliest successional stage. These plants are sufficiently tolerant of drought and other environmental extremes to reproduce under harsh conditions. Annual phenological variation according to precipitation and temperature has been widely observed as has general variation by geographic location.