Rangelands最新文献

Rates of ecosystem change are accelerating in rangelands, but development of technologies to detect and react to change is accelerating at the same time.

New management frameworks, including novel ecosystems and Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) provide new ways of thinking about management strategies.

We describe how we are integrating several digital tools and new management frameworks on the Jornada Experimental Range as an example to help land managers imagine how these tools might be applied in their contexts.

Agriculture is undergoing a rapid shift with the integration of digital technologies, resulting in a new form of production, “Agriculture 4.0” integrates not only sensors and robotics, but also the internet of things, cloud computing, data analytics, and decision support systems.

The use of digital technologies for production of grazing land is generally referred to as Precision Livestock Farming (PLF).

We provide a review and synthesis of design processes, with a focus on the human-centered design process and the Responsible Innovation Framework—to provide insights to guide research and development of PLF technologies in rangelands.

We describe the six stages of a “Design Thinking” process (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test, and assess) and highlight the dimensions of the Responsible Innovation Framework (anticipation, inclusion, reflexivity, responsiveness, and equity) that are important at each step of the process.

We present a case study of the Sustainable Southwest Beef Project and their translational approach to science to provide an example of a PLF design process and highlight what others may learn from those experiences.

Conservation advisors often want to know about the economics/profitability of soil health practices in grazing systems; however, relationships between soil health management and economic outcomes are lacking in grazing systems.

We present a recent case study of California rangelands to demonstrate the challenges associated with determining economics/profitability of soil health practices in grazing systems.

We found online tools available for researchers and conservation advisors to better understand soil health and forage production changes over time, but better on-the-ground information is still needed to estimate economic outcomes.

Conservation groups and government agencies can play a role in quantifying economic outcomes by recording and sharing types of livestock management, length of management, and pre- and post-management soil health data.

The amount of available summer forage for livestock is becoming more uncertain under a changing climate.

Remote sensing estimates of herbaceous biomass production are becoming more readily available for managers and scientists, making assessments of available forage across large regions possible.

We coupled remotely sensed forage estimates with a ranch-level economic model to assess the effects of drought (short and long term) on several key economic factors in the future.

Our findings indicate forage productivity is tightly linked to mean annual temperature, vapor pressure deficit, and precipitation, and both drought scenarios resulted in significant economic effects at the ranch level (i.e., up to 32.1% losses in net income over a 40-year timespan).

Even though our established drought scenarios are hypothetical, the coupling of remote sensing data with economic models further increases the understanding of the effects of a changing climate on rangeland productivity and can ultimately improve implementation of adaptive rangeland management strategies.