Abstract
Climate change will increase variability in temperature and precipitation on rangelands, impacting ecosystem services including livestock grazing. Facing uncertainty about future climate, managers must know if current practices will maintain rangeland sustainability. Herein, the future density of an invasive species, broom snakeweed, is estimated using a long-term ecological dataset and climate projections. We find that livestock stocking rates determined using a current method result in lower forage production, allowable stocking rate, and grazing value than an economically efficient stocking rate. Results indicate that using ecology and adaptive methods in management are critical to the sustainability of rangelands.
Highlights
Ecosystems characterized as rangelands are arid or semi-arid landscapes dominated by grasses, forbs, and shrubs, and they comprise 30 percent of the land area in the United States (Havstad et al 2009)
Blue grama production is significantly reduced by the presence of broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae), an undesirable woody shrub that is toxic to livestock (Ueckert 1979; McDaniel 1984)
This paper quantifies the impacts of climate change projections, namely temperature and precipitation, on range ecology and economic outcomes resulting from use of a commonly used stocking rule
Summary
Ecosystems characterized as rangelands are arid or semi-arid landscapes dominated by grasses, forbs, and shrubs, and they comprise 30 percent of the land area in the United States (Havstad et al 2009). Climate change projections indicate that Southwestern rangelands will face greater seasonal variability in precipitation and increased temperatures, implying potentially longer and more severe droughts (Pachauri and Reisinger 2007; Briske et al 2015) These conditions are anticipated to alter plant communities and rangeland ecosystems directly through species die-offs and indirectly by, for example, more frequent fire events. How projected changes to temperature and precipitation will blue grama productivity directly, and indirectly through broom snakeweed proliferation, is unknown Another question that remains is if stocking rules such as 50 percent utilization will be robust, ecologically and economically, given the impacts of climate change on forage and other primary producers in rangelands.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
