Pub Date : 2026-01-01Epub Date: 2026-01-07DOI: 10.1016/j.rama.2025.11.006
Francois Deacon , Wesley John Black
In Mozambique, 81% of the land is rangelands. Effective management requires understanding their agricultural potential, but deviations from ecological principles have led to environmental degradation. This study investigates the grazing and browsing capacity of rangelands in central Mozambique Province, characterized by Miombo woodland. This study seeks to thoroughly understand rangeland conditions by evaluating their potential to support grazing and browsing ruminants. The ideal is to balance ecological integrity with economic viability, ensuring the long-term health and productivity of the region’s diverse ecosystems. The research reveals that browsing capacity peaks during the wet season, with a maximum of 49.4 hectares per Browser Unit (ha/BU) at 1.5 m height, and declines in the dry season, reaching critically low values of 119.8 ha/BU in August. Grazing capacity is estimated at 11.3 hectares per Large Stock Unit (ha/LSU). These findings highlight the ecological dynamics and potential agricultural productivity of the region. Observed variations in grazing and browsing capacities are crucial for guiding sustainable agricultural practices and conservation efforts. By providing a foundation for determining appropriate stocking densities, the research supports the prevention of overgrazing and the maintenance of ecological balance. The implications for the rangeland profession include enhanced understanding of rangeland ecology, contributing to biodiversity conservation and agricultural support in Mozambique.
{"title":"Novel Insights Into Grazing and Browsing Capacity Related to Rangeland Condition in an Understudied Area of Central Mozambique, Inhambane Province","authors":"Francois Deacon , Wesley John Black","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.11.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.11.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In Mozambique, 81% of the land is rangelands. Effective management requires understanding their agricultural potential, but deviations from ecological principles have led to environmental degradation. This study investigates the grazing and browsing capacity of rangelands in central Mozambique Province, characterized by Miombo woodland. This study seeks to thoroughly understand rangeland conditions by evaluating their potential to support grazing and browsing ruminants. The ideal is to balance ecological integrity with economic viability, ensuring the long-term health and productivity of the region’s diverse ecosystems. The research reveals that browsing capacity peaks during the wet season, with a maximum of 49.4 hectares per Browser Unit (ha/BU) at 1.5 m height, and declines in the dry season, reaching critically low values of 119.8 ha/BU in August. Grazing capacity is estimated at 11.3 hectares per Large Stock Unit (ha/LSU). These findings highlight the ecological dynamics and potential agricultural productivity of the region. Observed variations in grazing and browsing capacities are crucial for guiding sustainable agricultural practices and conservation efforts. By providing a foundation for determining appropriate stocking densities, the research supports the prevention of overgrazing and the maintenance of ecological balance. The implications for the rangeland profession include enhanced understanding of rangeland ecology, contributing to biodiversity conservation and agricultural support in Mozambique.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"104 ","pages":"Pages 67-71"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145927432","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-01Epub Date: 2025-12-19DOI: 10.1016/j.rama.2025.11.002
Melissa Landeen , Kevin Gunnell , Daniel D. Summers , Matthew D. Madsen , Antonio Villanueva-Morales
Sagebrush seedings in Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) ecosystems often experience high failure rates. We tested the hypotheses that 1) sowing season impacts spring seedling emergence, 2) increasing seeding rate will result in higher seedling emergence, 3) pressing seed into the soil surface improves seeding outcomes, and 4) year is an important factor in sagebrush seedling emergence. Over four study years, we used a randomized complete block split-plot design to compare eleven seeding rates sown on seven dates throughout fall and winter at two locations in central Utah. We also seeded paired plots during the fall sowing seasons with a roller-packer wheel treatment to improve seed-soil contact. Each spring, seedling density was recorded. Data was analyzed using generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) and Pearson correlation. Year strongly impacted seedling density (P < 0.0001), with emergence limited or nonexistent in two study years. In years where emergence occurred, seeding rate was related to seedling density with a positive linear relationship (r = 0.32; P < 0.0001) indicating a similar percentage of seed emerged regardless of seeding rate. Mid-fall and fall sowings resulted in 7 to 8-fold higher seedling density than a traditional mid-winter sowing. The application of a roller-packer treatment did not affect seedling emergence when compared across multiple years (P = 0.5493) or multiple sowing seasons within a single year (P = 0.9920). Finally, a correlation analysis indicated a negative relationship between snow depth at the time of sowing and seedling density the following spring (r = −0.18; P < 0.0001). Overall, these findings show that sagebrush seeding efforts can be improved by altering the sowing season from winter to fall and increasing seeding rates, but annual environmental conditions serve as a primary bottleneck in sagebrush establishment.
{"title":"Effects of Seeding Rate and Sowing Season on the Establishment Success of Wyoming Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata subsp. wyomingensis)","authors":"Melissa Landeen , Kevin Gunnell , Daniel D. Summers , Matthew D. Madsen , Antonio Villanueva-Morales","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.11.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.11.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sagebrush seedings in Wyoming big sagebrush (<em>Artemisia tridentata</em> Nutt.) ecosystems often experience high failure rates. We tested the hypotheses that 1) sowing season impacts spring seedling emergence, 2) increasing seeding rate will result in higher seedling emergence, 3) pressing seed into the soil surface improves seeding outcomes, and 4) year is an important factor in sagebrush seedling emergence. Over four study years, we used a randomized complete block split-plot design to compare eleven seeding rates sown on seven dates throughout fall and winter at two locations in central Utah. We also seeded paired plots during the fall sowing seasons with a roller-packer wheel treatment to improve seed-soil contact. Each spring, seedling density was recorded. Data was analyzed using generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) and Pearson correlation. Year strongly impacted seedling density (<em>P</em> < 0.0001), with emergence limited or nonexistent in two study years. In years where emergence occurred, seeding rate was related to seedling density with a positive linear relationship (<em>r</em> = 0.32; <em>P</em> < 0.0001) indicating a similar percentage of seed emerged regardless of seeding rate. Mid-fall and fall sowings resulted in 7 to 8-fold higher seedling density than a traditional mid-winter sowing. The application of a roller-packer treatment did not affect seedling emergence when compared across multiple years (<em>P</em> = 0.5493) or multiple sowing seasons within a single year (<em>P</em> = 0.9920). Finally, a correlation analysis indicated a negative relationship between snow depth at the time of sowing and seedling density the following spring (<em>r</em> = −0.18; <em>P</em> < 0.0001). Overall, these findings show that sagebrush seeding efforts can be improved by altering the sowing season from winter to fall and increasing seeding rates, but annual environmental conditions serve as a primary bottleneck in sagebrush establishment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"104 ","pages":"Pages 8-19"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145771909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-01Epub Date: 2025-09-17DOI: 10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.003
Pradeep Wagle , Tanka Kandel , Brian K. Northup , Xiangming Xiao , Corey Moffet , Stephen Teet , Sherry Hunt , Stacey A. Gunter
The tallgrass prairie of the Great Plains is an ecologically and economically important grassland ecosystem in the United States. Prairies face significant challenges from weather variability (such as changing precipitation patterns, increased droughts, and heat waves) and management-related disturbances (such as prescribed burns, hay production, and grazing). This study examines the responses of tallgrass prairie to weather variability and management practices using data from the long-term, multi-factor “integrated Grassland-Livestock and Burning Experiment (iGLOBE)” in central Oklahoma. The experiment includes a cluster of eddy covariance (EC) systems across five native tallgrass prairies managed with different grazing, hay production, and burning regimes. The major objectives were to 1) quantify the variations in EC-measured evapotranspiration (ET) at different temporal scales across differently managed prairies under varying environmental conditions, and 2) combine remotely sensed vegetation indices with ET to assess their potential for monitoring and examining ecosystem responses to variable weather and management. Interannual variations in precipitation patterns during the study period (2019–2024) influenced vegetation dynamics, forage production, and ET. Temperature variability also played a crucial role in modifying the impact of precipitation, particularly during the early and late growing seasons. The observed ranges of maximum daily, growing season (April-October), and annual ET were 4.9–8.64 mm d-1, 468–716 mm, and 546–861 mm, respectively, across pastures. Annual ET: precipitation ratios ranged from 0.67 in wet years to 1.15 in dry years. This study provides a ground-truth ET dataset across different weather and management scenarios, enabling validation of ET estimates from models and satellite-derived products for tallgrass prairies, even where direct ET measurements are unavailable. A strong agreement (R2 ≥ 0.70) between satellite-derived enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and EC-measured ET demonstrated the potential to combine these datasets for more precise quantification of how weather and management affect productivity and water use across native prairie landscapes.
{"title":"Tallgrass Prairie Responses to Weather Variability and Management: Analyses of Vegetation Dynamics and Water Use","authors":"Pradeep Wagle , Tanka Kandel , Brian K. Northup , Xiangming Xiao , Corey Moffet , Stephen Teet , Sherry Hunt , Stacey A. Gunter","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The tallgrass prairie of the Great Plains is an ecologically and economically important grassland ecosystem in the United States. Prairies face significant challenges from weather variability (such as changing precipitation patterns, increased droughts, and heat waves) and management-related disturbances (such as prescribed burns, hay production, and grazing). This study examines the responses of tallgrass prairie to weather variability and management practices using data from the long-term, multi-factor “<em>integrated Grassland-Livestock and Burning Experiment (iGLOBE)</em>” in central Oklahoma. The experiment includes a cluster of eddy covariance (EC) systems across five native tallgrass prairies managed with different grazing, hay production, and burning regimes. The major objectives were to 1) quantify the variations in EC-measured evapotranspiration (ET) at different temporal scales across differently managed prairies under varying environmental conditions, and 2) combine remotely sensed vegetation indices with ET to assess their potential for monitoring and examining ecosystem responses to variable weather and management. Interannual variations in precipitation patterns during the study period (2019–2024) influenced vegetation dynamics, forage production, and ET. Temperature variability also played a crucial role in modifying the impact of precipitation, particularly during the early and late growing seasons. The observed ranges of maximum daily, growing season (April-October), and annual ET were 4.9–8.64 mm d<sup>-1</sup>, 468–716 mm, and 546–861 mm, respectively, across pastures. Annual ET: precipitation ratios ranged from 0.67 in wet years to 1.15 in dry years. This study provides a ground-truth ET dataset across different weather and management scenarios, enabling validation of ET estimates from models and satellite-derived products for tallgrass prairies, even where direct ET measurements are unavailable. A strong agreement (R<sup>2</sup> ≥ 0.70) between satellite-derived enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and EC-measured ET demonstrated the potential to combine these datasets for more precise quantification of how weather and management affect productivity and water use across native prairie landscapes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Pages 171-183"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145095843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-01Epub Date: 2025-09-19DOI: 10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.012
Ranae M. Sullivan , Beth A. Newingham
Nonnative grasses such as red brome (Bromus rubens) are widespread in the Mojave Desert, causing significant harm to native flora and wildlife habitats. These invasive grasses alter fire cycles, degrade habitats, and reduce biodiversity. We evaluated the effectiveness of proactive herbicide treatments in reducing nonnative grasses in otherwise intact plant communities. Using a split-plot design, we examined how single and twice-applied herbicide applications affect native and nonnative plant communities. Pre-emergent herbicide (imazapic) was aerially applied at four sites in Gold Butte National Monument in fall 2019, with an additional application on a portion of each plot in fall 2020, resulting in once- and twice-treated sections. Vegetation was monitored during the 2020–2022 growing seasons to track changes in nonnative grass cover, annual forb cover, and shrub cover. Initial treatments reduced B. rubens cover in 2020 by as much as 6.3% ± 1.2%, but effects diminished in subsequent years. Twice-applied treatments did not show further reduction until the second year. Native forbs decreased by as much as 2.9% ± 0.6% after the first treatment but recovered in following years. Shrub cover was unaffected overall, though drought-induced Ambrosia dumosa mortality was greater in imazapic treated plots. Although imazapic initially reduced B. rubens cover, severe drought that began in 2020 reduced the emergence of annual plants, potentially negating or masking the herbicide’s benefits. Furthermore, increased drought-induced mortality of a foundational shrub in twice-applied treatments suggests a significant tradeoff with treatments intended to reduce invasive grasses. This study highlights the need for timing pre-emergent herbicide treatments with adequate precipitation to enhance their efficacy. Effective management of invasive grasses requires a proactive approach, considering both treatment timing and environmental conditions to sustain native plant communities and prevent habitat degradation.
{"title":"Herbicide Application in Mojave Desert Shrublands: Invasive Grass Reduction, Native Forb Resilience, and Shrub Mortality","authors":"Ranae M. Sullivan , Beth A. Newingham","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.012","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nonnative grasses such as red brome (<em>Bromus rubens</em>) are widespread in the Mojave Desert, causing significant harm to native flora and wildlife habitats. These invasive grasses alter fire cycles, degrade habitats, and reduce biodiversity. We evaluated the effectiveness of proactive herbicide treatments in reducing nonnative grasses in otherwise intact plant communities. Using a split-plot design, we examined how single and twice-applied herbicide applications affect native and nonnative plant communities. Pre-emergent herbicide (imazapic) was aerially applied at four sites in Gold Butte National Monument in fall 2019, with an additional application on a portion of each plot in fall 2020, resulting in once- and twice-treated sections. Vegetation was monitored during the 2020–2022 growing seasons to track changes in nonnative grass cover, annual forb cover, and shrub cover. Initial treatments reduced <em>B. rubens</em> cover in 2020 by as much as 6.3% ± 1.2%, but effects diminished in subsequent years. Twice-applied treatments did not show further reduction until the second year. Native forbs decreased by as much as 2.9% ± 0.6% after the first treatment but recovered in following years. Shrub cover was unaffected overall, though drought-induced <em>Ambrosia dumosa</em> mortality was greater in imazapic treated plots. Although imazapic initially reduced <em>B. rubens</em> cover, severe drought that began in 2020 reduced the emergence of annual plants, potentially negating or masking the herbicide’s benefits. Furthermore, increased drought-induced mortality of a foundational shrub in twice-applied treatments suggests a significant tradeoff with treatments intended to reduce invasive grasses. This study highlights the need for timing pre-emergent herbicide treatments with adequate precipitation to enhance their efficacy. Effective management of invasive grasses requires a proactive approach, considering both treatment timing and environmental conditions to sustain native plant communities and prevent habitat degradation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Pages 184-195"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145095844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-01Epub Date: 2025-09-02DOI: 10.1016/j.rama.2025.07.016
Merilynn C. Schantz , Douglas R. Smith , Kabindra Adhikari , Douglas J. Goodwin , Douglas R. Tolleson , Javier M. Osorio Leyton , Kelly R. Thorp , R. Daren Harmel
Frequent and extreme weather events have increased the need for improved grazing land management strategies that can withstand these disturbances. Alternative grazing strategies of rotational and supplemental forage cover crop use have been suggested as producing greater environmental benefits than prevailing practices of continuous use with supplemental forage oat grazing in pasturelands. How plant and animal performance differs by these grazing strategies, especially during climactic extremes, however, is unknown as it requires long-term studies that occur across common land management (large) spatial scales. Dynamic precipitation patterns in central Texas provide a unique environment to test the differences in grazing management strategies by weather inputs. For this study, we sought to compare plant production and animal nutrition between alternative adaptive grazing land management strategies of rotationally grazed pastures and forage cover crops to prevailing methods of continuously grazed pastures and supplemental forage oats across a 10-yr period in central Texas. Our results suggest that alternative strategies of rotational grazing with supplemental cover crops resulted in greater plant production, especially in ungrazed regions during drought, compared to prevailing practices of continuous pasture grazing with supplemental forage oats. Animal nutrition was, alternatively, inconclusive as fecal crude protein in cattle was greater when animals grazed the prevailing treatment of forage oats and continuously grazed pastures, although the ratio of digestible organic matter to crude protein was greater when cattle grazed the alternative treatment of rotational and cover crop pastures. Collectively, these results suggest that alternative grazing strategies may be more resistant to climatic extremes.
{"title":"Adapting to Climatic Extremes: Do Grazing Management Strategies Matter?","authors":"Merilynn C. Schantz , Douglas R. Smith , Kabindra Adhikari , Douglas J. Goodwin , Douglas R. Tolleson , Javier M. Osorio Leyton , Kelly R. Thorp , R. Daren Harmel","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.07.016","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.07.016","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Frequent and extreme weather events have increased the need for improved grazing land management strategies that can withstand these disturbances. Alternative grazing strategies of rotational and supplemental forage cover crop use have been suggested as producing greater environmental benefits than prevailing practices of continuous use with supplemental forage oat grazing in pasturelands. How plant and animal performance differs by these grazing strategies, especially during climactic extremes, however, is unknown as it requires long-term studies that occur across common land management (large) spatial scales. Dynamic precipitation patterns in central Texas provide a unique environment to test the differences in grazing management strategies by weather inputs. For this study, we sought to compare plant production and animal nutrition between alternative adaptive grazing land management strategies of rotationally grazed pastures and forage cover crops to prevailing methods of continuously grazed pastures and supplemental forage oats across a 10-yr period in central Texas. Our results suggest that alternative strategies of rotational grazing with supplemental cover crops resulted in greater plant production, especially in ungrazed regions during drought, compared to prevailing practices of continuous pasture grazing with supplemental forage oats. Animal nutrition was, alternatively, inconclusive as fecal crude protein in cattle was greater when animals grazed the prevailing treatment of forage oats and continuously grazed pastures, although the ratio of digestible organic matter to crude protein was greater when cattle grazed the alternative treatment of rotational and cover crop pastures. Collectively, these results suggest that alternative grazing strategies may be more resistant to climatic extremes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Pages 117-127"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144925726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small-holder herders in pastoral areas are confronted with multisource risks, among which conservation policies represent a prominent institutional shock. Collaboration is widely advocated to address such complex and uncertain challenges, yet studies on how local herders informally collaborate to adapt to institutional shocks remain limited. Taking a pastoral village on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau as a case study, the paper employs the Exponential Random Graph Model to investigate the drivers of communication network formation and the Auto-Logistic Actor Attribute Model to examine its impacts on individual adaptability, assessed by whether they can comply with stocking rate requirements imposed by rangeland conservation programs while sustaining their livelihoods. A tightly bonded network was found to emerge from relational transitivity and promote the adoption of adaptive actions. Network decentralization was observed to diversify information sources, thereby enhancing adaptability. Preferential attachment and homophily significantly influenced network formation, though different actor attributes played divergent roles and produced counterbalancing effects on individual adaptability. To achieve the dual goals of resource conservation and livelihood sustainability, we emphasize that collaborative networks should be weaved to align with the nature of collective dilemmas, meanwhile, measures should be implemented to mitigate adverse effects from potential network polarization.
{"title":"Collaborative Adaptation to Institutional Shocks: Drivers and Outcomes of Communication Network Between Herders","authors":"Dayuan Xing , Haibin Chen , Liqun Shao , Han Zhang , Xianli Xia","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.10.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.10.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Small-holder herders in pastoral areas are confronted with multisource risks, among which conservation policies represent a prominent institutional shock. Collaboration is widely advocated to address such complex and uncertain challenges, yet studies on how local herders informally collaborate to adapt to institutional shocks remain limited. Taking a pastoral village on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau as a case study, the paper employs the Exponential Random Graph Model to investigate the drivers of communication network formation and the Auto-Logistic Actor Attribute Model to examine its impacts on individual adaptability, assessed by whether they can comply with stocking rate requirements imposed by rangeland conservation programs while sustaining their livelihoods. A tightly bonded network was found to emerge from relational transitivity and promote the adoption of adaptive actions. Network decentralization was observed to diversify information sources, thereby enhancing adaptability. Preferential attachment and homophily significantly influenced network formation, though different actor attributes played divergent roles and produced counterbalancing effects on individual adaptability. To achieve the dual goals of resource conservation and livelihood sustainability, we emphasize that collaborative networks should be weaved to align with the nature of collective dilemmas, meanwhile, measures should be implemented to mitigate adverse effects from potential network polarization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Pages 473-482"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145568402","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-01Epub Date: 2025-11-14DOI: 10.1016/j.rama.2025.10.001
Kristina E. Young , Aaron Lien , José Carvalho de Souza Dias , Katherine Hovanes , Elise S. Gornish
Invasive, nonnative plant species are a major driver of global change due to their ability to disrupt ecological structure and function. However, despite substantial promising research into effective weed management strategies, large-scale invasive plant (hereafter “weeds”) reduction is rarely achieved. While the reasons for this disconnect are multifaceted, one documented cause is the limited overlap between researchers studying weed management and the practitioners enacting it. Here, we help close this research-implementation gap by surveying those involved with weed management across Utah and Arizona, two states in the American West that face considerable weed infestations on working landscapes. We asked weed management professionals across working landscapes to indicate how often they use different weed control techniques recommended by integrated weed management practices (specifically, prescribed fire, herbicide, grazing, and seeding), how effective they find the techniques to be, and concerns related to each treatment. Because the literature implies that many of these techniques are effective alone or in concert, we expected logistical concerns (i.e., cost, access to equipment, lack of information) would be the dominant reasons for not pursuing a weed control strategy. We found that weed management professionals are relying heavily on herbicide and are using other weed control techniques at a much smaller frequency. Weed management professionals list multiple concerns with different weed control treatments, but most concerns were not logistical in nature. Instead, concerns centered around ecological and weather constraints such as inadequate weed control when grazing, lack of seed establishment, and losing control of fire. We recommend ways in which researchers can work with practitioners to address weed treatment concerns to increase the diversity of weed control treatments used in working landscapes.
{"title":"Drivers of Weed Control Implementation and Challenges: Perspectives From Weed Management Professionals","authors":"Kristina E. Young , Aaron Lien , José Carvalho de Souza Dias , Katherine Hovanes , Elise S. Gornish","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.10.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.10.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Invasive, nonnative plant species are a major driver of global change due to their ability to disrupt ecological structure and function. However, despite substantial promising research into effective weed management strategies, large-scale invasive plant (hereafter “weeds”) reduction is rarely achieved. While the reasons for this disconnect are multifaceted, one documented cause is the limited overlap between researchers studying weed management and the practitioners enacting it. Here, we help close this research-implementation gap by surveying those involved with weed management across Utah and Arizona, two states in the American West that face considerable weed infestations on working landscapes. We asked weed management professionals across working landscapes to indicate how often they use different weed control techniques recommended by integrated weed management practices (specifically, prescribed fire, herbicide, grazing, and seeding), how effective they find the techniques to be, and concerns related to each treatment. Because the literature implies that many of these techniques are effective alone or in concert, we expected logistical concerns (i.e., cost, access to equipment, lack of information) would be the dominant reasons for not pursuing a weed control strategy. We found that weed management professionals are relying heavily on herbicide and are using other weed control techniques at a much smaller frequency. Weed management professionals list multiple concerns with different weed control treatments, but most concerns were not logistical in nature. Instead, concerns centered around ecological and weather constraints such as inadequate weed control when grazing, lack of seed establishment, and losing control of fire. We recommend ways in which researchers can work with practitioners to address weed treatment concerns to increase the diversity of weed control treatments used in working landscapes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Pages 462-472"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145519451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-01Epub Date: 2025-08-14DOI: 10.1016/j.rama.2025.07.005
Ada P. Smith , Ethan Gordon , Hannah Gosnell , Jennifer Hodbod
Formal monitoring is widely promoted by scientists, range professionals, Extension services, and conservation organizations in the U.S. as a tool for ranchers to develop knowledge about the condition of pasture and rangelands and to improve management decisions. Despite extensive scientific literature on formal monitoring, informal monitoring—such as visual assessments, systematic observations, and photography—has received limited attention. Through qualitative interviews with ranchers (n = 63) across three U.S. ecoregions (MI, OK/TX, WY/CO), this study explores how ranchers define and utilize both formal and informal monitoring methods. We found that formal, “scientific,” monitoring methods are often underutilized due to time constraints, labor demands, perceived irrelevance, and the inadequacy of data to capture localized variability that ranchers observe and manage. Conversely, ranchers predominantly use informal monitoring methods to develop local knowledge, track changes, and make management decisions tailored to their specific conditions. Considering our findings, we urge scientists and professionals to acknowledge and engage with the informal monitoring methods ranchers use, which may be outside of the scientific paradigm. We discuss future research and collaboration opportunities to integrate ranchers' informal monitoring approaches with formal methods to develop monitoring programs that are both useful and used, enhancing decision-making and outcomes on pasture and rangelands.
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Pub Date : 2025-11-01Epub Date: 2025-09-13DOI: 10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.004
James H. Cane , Byron G. Love , Skyler Burrows , Alexander Fortin , Kelsey K. Graham
{"title":"Erratum to “Pollination Needs and Diverse Bees of a Prospective Fuelbreak Wildflower, Curlycup Gumweed (Grindelia squarrosa) (Asteraceae)” [Rangeland Ecology & Management volume 102, September 2025, pages 186-192]","authors":"James H. Cane , Byron G. Love , Skyler Burrows , Alexander Fortin , Kelsey K. Graham","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.004","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Page 152"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145049031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-01Epub Date: 2025-10-09DOI: 10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.017
Jonathan D. Bates , Kirk W. Davies , Stella M. Copeland , Rory C. O’Connor , Lauren N. Svejcar , Danielle R. Clenet
Information on the effects of long-term cattle grazing at different intensities on herbage production following fire in the sagebrush steppe is lacking. We measured herbaceous biomass response to cattle grazing spanning 18 yr (2007–2024) on burned Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. wyomingensis Beetle & Young) steppe in eastern Oregon. Treatments were applied in a randomized complete block design, including no grazing on burned (nonuse) and unburned (control) sagebrush steppe; and cattle grazing at low (low), moderate (moderate), and high (high) stocking. All grazed treatments were by deferred rotation. Deferred rotation consisted of grazing during the active growing season (mid-May–early June) once every 3 yr followed by 2 yr of grazing during summer herbaceous dormancy (July, August, or September). Herbage was sorted by herbaceous functional group, which included an early season bunchgrass (Sandberg bluegrass [Poa secunda J. Presl]), tall perennial bunchgrasses, perennial forbs, cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.), and annual forbs. Both standing crop and annual net primary production (ANPP, current year’s growth) of functional groups were evaluated by repeated measures analysis. Standing crop decreased as grazing intensity increased but recovered with 1 or 2 yr of grazing rest. Herbaceous functional group ANPP did not differ among the burned treatments (grazed and nonuse), and total and perennial bunchgrass production were all greater than the control. Grazing intensity in the deferred rotation program did not affect long-term ANPP. Annual weather events account for ANPP variability measured for the various grazed and ungrazed treatments.
关于不同强度的长期放牧对山艾草草原火灾后牧草生产影响的信息缺乏。我们测量了18年（2007-2024）放牧对燃烧的怀俄明大艾草（Artemisia tridentata Nutt）草本生物量的响应。ssp。怀俄明州：俄勒冈州东部的甲虫大草原。处理采用随机完全区组设计，包括不放牧烧伤（未使用）和未烧伤（对照）的山艾草草原；牛在低（低）、中（中）、高（高）放养时放牧。所有放牧处理均采用延期轮作。延期轮作包括在活跃生长季节（5月中旬至6月初）每3年放牧一次，然后在夏季草本休眠期（7月、8月或9月）放牧2年。牧草按草本功能类群进行分类，包括早季束草（Sandberg bluegrass [Poa secunda J. Presl]）、多年生高大束草、多年生草本、腐草（Bromus tectorum L.）和一年生草本。采用重复测量法对各官能团的立木产量和年净初级产量（ANPP，当年生长量）进行了评价。随着放牧强度的增加，林分作物数量减少，休牧1 ~ 2年后恢复。草本功能组ANPP在不同焚烧处理（放牧和不放牧）间无显著差异，总堆草产量和多年生堆草产量均大于对照。延期轮作方案的放牧强度对长期ANPP没有影响。年气候事件解释了不同放牧和未放牧处理的ANPP变率。
{"title":"Effects of Long-Term Grazing at Different Intensities on Herbaceous Biomass in Southeast Oregon Sagebrush Steppe","authors":"Jonathan D. Bates , Kirk W. Davies , Stella M. Copeland , Rory C. O’Connor , Lauren N. Svejcar , Danielle R. Clenet","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.017","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.017","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Information on the effects of long-term cattle grazing at different intensities on herbage production following fire in the sagebrush steppe is lacking. We measured herbaceous biomass response to cattle grazing spanning 18 yr (2007–2024) on burned Wyoming big sagebrush (<em>Artemisia tridentata</em> Nutt. ssp. <em>wyomingensis</em> Beetle & Young) steppe in eastern Oregon. Treatments were applied in a randomized complete block design, including no grazing on burned (nonuse) and unburned (control) sagebrush steppe; and cattle grazing at low (low), moderate (moderate), and high (high) stocking. All grazed treatments were by deferred rotation. Deferred rotation consisted of grazing during the active growing season (mid-May–early June) once every 3 yr followed by 2 yr of grazing during summer herbaceous dormancy (July, August, or September). Herbage was sorted by herbaceous functional group, which included an early season bunchgrass (Sandberg bluegrass [<em>Poa secunda</em> J. Presl]), tall perennial bunchgrasses, perennial forbs, cheatgrass (<em>Bromus tectorum</em> L.), and annual forbs. Both standing crop and annual net primary production (ANPP, current year’s growth) of functional groups were evaluated by repeated measures analysis. Standing crop decreased as grazing intensity increased but recovered with 1 or 2 yr of grazing rest. Herbaceous functional group ANPP did not differ among the burned treatments (grazed and nonuse), and total and perennial bunchgrass production were all greater than the control. Grazing intensity in the deferred rotation program did not affect long-term ANPP. Annual weather events account for ANPP variability measured for the various grazed and ungrazed treatments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Pages 307-317"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145265995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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