Rangelands最新文献

Resistance and resilience are commonly used terms in discussions about agriculture and future ecological conditions.

We provide a common understanding of these terms as they apply to the ecology of grazed systems.

We discuss the relationship between ecological resistance and resilience, disturbances, and ecological processes.

We present examples of how to make what is known about ecological resistance and resilience in grazed ecosystems accessible to planners and their clients.

Conservation policies promote sustainable grasslands management practices, like rotational or management-intensive (RMI) grazing, in the United States.

The self-reported adoption of RMI grazing declined in the United States between 2007 and 2017, and few studies have investigated this trend.

We use panel data to estimate county-level fixed effects regressions to assess if changes in the size of cattle operations are influencing this trend. We estimate a regression for the United States, as well as regressions by Climate Hub region.

We find nationally, as well as within six of the eight Climate Hub regions, an increase in cattle operations with <20 head leads to a smaller increase in RMI grazing relative to an increase in cattle operations with 20-199 head. However, this effect is reversed in the Northeast.

Nationally, we find similar effects on RMI grazing among cattle operations with 20-199 head and ≥200 head. Still, in two of the Climate Hub regions (Midwest and Southeast), cattle operations with 20-199 head lead to greater RMI grazing adoption than cattle operations with ≥200 head. Thus, declines in RMI grazing are most strongly associated with declines in small and medium-sized cattle operations.

Because of the diverse rangeland ecosystems across California and in the Central Coast region, producers employed a wide array of grazing management practices to best benefit the goals of their operation.

Top priority grazing goals include fire suppression and cattle health, while the lowest priority includes increased forage species diversity and wildlife management.

Producers indicated they monitored the grazing behavior of their cattle and used mineral and protein supplementation.

We discovered three themes among the qualitative interviews that drove grazing management decision-making among producer respondents: specific characteristics of the managed rangelands, reactions to and planning for extreme weather patterns and natural disasters, and concerns about the divide between rural and urban understanding of management of California rangelands.

Most producers responded that their grazing management systems were successful, and their grazing management methodology was dependent on the specific landscape and ownership/management of the land.

Resource managers are challenged to inventory and assess the condition of rangeland ecosystems, determine any existing management problems, implement management plans developed to correct problems and improve conditions, and predict and monitor changes in conditions.

Ecological site descriptions, state-and-transition models, and rangeland health assessments are three powerful tools to help managers understand current and potential conditions, describe resource concerns, and develop conservation plans to achieve desired conditions.

Resource concern risk ratings are a new feature of ecological site descriptions that enhance the integration of these tools and resources.

The major threats to sustaining rangelands in the 21st century are climate and land-use change, both of which originate outside of rangelands themselves.

Society's demands on rangelands have shifted away from livestock production and toward services and disservices such as climate mitigation and greenhouse gas emissions.

Sustaining rangelands in the United States depends on sustainability of the larger beef production system, including crop agriculture, feeding, and finishing.

Understanding the history of the beef system helps identify strategies and priorities for sustaining rangelands and meeting society's evolving demands.