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Farmers' Behavioral Intention to Cultivate Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Farmlands: Solutions for the Conservation of Rangelands Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2021-01-22 Bijan Abadi; Taher Azizi-Khalkheili; Mohammad Reza Morshedloo
This paper calls attention to the factors that contribute to predicting behavioral intention to cultivate medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) in farmlands, as social-psychological and microeconomic features of the adopter and nonadopter farmers are compared. Against the previous studies that have established inductive-based hypotheses, this research, in turn, benefitted from a deductive-based approach
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Patch burning tall fescue invaded grasslands alters alkaloids and tiller defoliation with implications for cattle toxicosis Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2021-01-20 J.D. Scasta; R.L. McCulley; D.M. Engle; D. Debinski
Tall fescue (Schedonurus arundinaceus), an exotic invasive grass in North America, can associate with a fungal endophyte that causes livestock toxicity. Native prairies are frequently managed with interactive fire and grazing, yet little is known regarding tall fescue's endophytic and toxicological responses. From 2012 to 2014, we applied patch-burn grazing (PBG—burning a different third annually)
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Timing and duration of precipitation pulses and interpulses influence seedling recruitment in the Great Basin Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2021-01-19 Lysandra A. Pyle; Roger L. Sheley; Jeremy J. James
Precipitation pulses and interpulse dry periods are major drivers of dryland ecosystem function globally, yet how the patterning and timing of precipitation inputs and dry periods influence seedling recruitment in these systems is poorly understood. We conducted two experiments to understand how limited and variable patterns of precipitation inputs may influence recruitment of bluebunch wheatgrass
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Agreement and Uncertainty Among Climate Change Impact Models: A Synthesis of Sagebrush Steppe Vegetation Projections Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2021-01-19 Scott N. Zimmer; Guenchik J. Grosklos; Patrick Belmont; Peter B. Adler
Ecologists have built numerous models to project how climate change will impact rangeland vegetation, but these projections of future changes are difficult to validate, making their utility for land management planning unclear. In the absence of direct validation, researchers can ask whether projections from different models are consistent. High consistency across models, especially those based on
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Cattle Grazing Distribution Patterns Related to Topography Across Diverse Rangeland Ecosystems of North America Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2021-01-16 E.J. Raynor; S.P. Gersie; M.B. Stephenson; P.E. Clark; S.A. Spiegal; R.K. Boughton; D.W. Bailey; A. Cibils; B.W. Smith; J.D. Derner; R.E. Estell; R.M. Nielson; D.J. Augustine
Livestock distribution in extensive rangelands of North America can present management challenges to land managers. Understanding the role of topography on livestock distribution, within and across diverse rangeland ecosystems, could provide land managers valuable information for adaptive management of livestock to address both conservation and production goals from these ecosystems. Here, we examine
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Integrating Rangeland Health and Stream Stability in Assessments of Rangeland Watersheds Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2021-01-16 Miranda A. Meehan; Peter L. O'Brien; Garret A. Hecker; Jeffrey L. Printz
Watersheds are distinct hydrologic units that comprise a range of terrestrial upland and riparian complex ecological sites. Since the hydrologic function of the entirety of the watershed is linked, other ecological functions and processes are also likely linked. No single assessment tool is available to describe the ecological status of both terrestrial upland sites and riparian complexes in a single
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Slope and Aspect Effects on Seedbed Microclimate and Germination Timing of Fall-Planted Seeds Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2021-01-14 Alex R. Boehm; Stuart P. Hardegree; Nancy F. Glenn; Patrick A. Reeves; Corey A. Moffet; Gerald N. Flerchinger
Rangeland vegetation in the Great Basin, United States, is frequently disturbed by natural- and human-caused wildfires that facilitate the establishment and dominance of introduced annual weeds such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and medusahead wildrye (Taeniatherum caput-medusae [L.] Nevski). Ecological resilience and resistance of native and seeded-non-native plant communities in this region, however
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Socio-Ecological Factors and Risk Perception of Herders Impact Grassland Rent in Inner Mongolia, China Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2021-01-15 Saheed Olaide Jimoh; Ping Li; Wenqiang Ding; Xiangyang Hou
The potential drivers of grassland rent-in across the ecosystem types in Inner Mongolia are poorly understood. This study employed a methodology that integrates socioeconomic characteristics, ecological factors, and risk perception of herders into a framework to assess the influencing factors of the area of grassland rent-in by households. Also, we examine how the size of rented grassland influences
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Long-term evaluation of restoring understories in Wyoming big sagebrush communities with mowing and seeding native bunchgrasses Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2021-01-15 Kirk W. Davies; Jon D. Bates; Rory O'Connor
Restoring degraded plant communities is a global challenge and a major priority for land managers and conservationists. Degraded Wyoming big sagebrush communities (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis [Beetle & A. Young] S.L. Welsh) have high sagebrush cover with a depleted perennial herbaceous understory. They are widespread in western North America and are a priority for restoration because they
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Climate Warming Decreases Plant Diversity but Increases Community Biomass in High-Altitude Grasslands Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2021-01-07 Kesang Wangchuk; Andras Darabant; Harilal Nirola; Jigme Wangdi; Georg Gratzer
The rugged Himalayan landscape results in large variations in site conditions that regulate plant response to warming. There is lack of deeper understanding on plant response to warming under differing site characteristics in the mountainous terrain. A 2-yr experiment was conducted in the high mountains of Bhutan. The objective was to investigate the effects of short-term artificial warming on high-altitude
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Historical Fire and Ventenata dubia Invasion in a Temperate Grassland Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-12-29 Luke W. Ridder; JoAnna M. Perren; Lesley R. Morris; Bryan A. Endress; Robert V. Taylor; Bridgett J. Naylor
Ventenata (Ventenata dubia L.) is an invasive annual grass that has rapidly expanded its range across temperate grassland and shrub-steppe ecosystems in western North America. However, there is little published regarding its ecology, especially its relationship with fire on rangelands. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of fire on ventenata invasion in the Pacific Northwest Bunchgrass
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Targeted Grazing of an Invasive Grass Improves Outcomes for Native Plant Communities and Wildlife Habitat Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-12-30 Aaron C. Rhodes; Jimmy Rutledge; Bart DuPont; Robert M. Plowes; Lawrence E. Gilbert
Rangelands provide ecosystem services that are economically and ecologically critical for humans. Globally, invasion of exotic grasses drives loss of biodiversity and resilience of rangelands. In South Texas, buffelgrass (Cenchrus ciliaris syn. Pennisetum ciliare [L.] Link), a C4 perennial grass, was brought from Africa for range improvement as early as the 1930s. Buffelgrass generally increases forage
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Fire controls annual bromes in northern great plains grasslands—Up to a point Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-12-25 Amy J. Symstad; Deborah A. Buhl; Daniel J. Swanson
Concern about the impacts of two invasive annual brome grasses (cheatgrass and Japanese brome, Bromus tectorum L. and B. japonicus Thunb. ex Murray) on the mixed-grass prairie of North America's northern Great Plains (NGP) is growing. Cheatgrass is well known west of the NGP, where replacement of fire-intolerant, native sagebrush steppe by fire-prone, exotic annual grasslands is widespread. Consequently
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Water quality for livestock in northern Great Plains rangelands Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-12-25 M.J. Rinella; J.M. Muscha; K.O. Reinhart; M.K. Petersen
Dissolved solids can negatively impact livestock drinking water. To characterize dissolved solid concentrations in the northern Great Plains, we studied 45 water sources over 11 yr. Ca, F, Mg, Na, and total solids sometimes exceeded recommended levels but rarely reached levels empirically shown to negatively impact livestock. Fe often attained concentrations that reduce water consumption, which can
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Shrub cover impacts on yak growth performance and herbaceous forage quality on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-12-24 C. Yang; T. Yan; Y. Sun; F. Hou
Shrub cover in alpine meadows around the world has experienced significant changes during the past 20 yr. An increase in shrub cover has often been associated with large influences in ecosystem functions. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the impact of shrub cover on herbaceous forage quality and yak grazing efficiency on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. Forty-eight yak steers
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Can Collaborative Adaptive Management Improve Cattle Production in Multipaddock Grazing Systems? Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-12-18 Justin D. Derner; David J. Augustine; David D. Briske; Hailey Wilmer; Lauren M. Porensky; María E. Fernández-Giménez; Dannele E. Peck; John P. Ritten
Collaborative adaptive management (CAM) is hypothesized to benefit management of rangeland ecosystems, but the presumed benefits have seldom been quantified, and never in a multipaddock rotational grazing system. Here, we evaluated average daily weight gain (ADG) of livestock (kg steer−1 d−1) in four grazing management treatments during the summers of 2016−2018 in a semiarid shortgrass steppe. These
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Foraging Behavior of Heritage versus Desert-Adapted Commercial Rangeland Beef Cows in Relation to Dam-Offspring Contact Patterns Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-12-11 Shelemia Nyamuryekung'e; Andres F. Cibils; Richard E. Estell; Matthew McIntosh; Dawn VanLeeuwen; Caitriana Steele; Alfredo L. González; Sheri Spiegal; F. Guadalupe Continanza
We compared cow-calf contacts, as well as movement, activity, and pasture use patterns of heritage Raramuri Criollo (RC) and desert-adapted commercial Angus Hereford crossbred (AH) beef cattle grazing Chihuahuan Desert pastures during 4 wk in the summers of 2016 and 2017. Within each herd of 11 cow-calf pairs, a group of 7−9 randomly selected cows were fitted with Global Positioning System collars
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Ranchers’ Use of Drought Contingency Plans in Protective Action Decision Making Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-12-11 Tonya Haigh; Michael Hayes; Jolene Smyth; Linda Prokopy; Charles Francis; Mark Burbach
Drought contingency planning is an increasingly common tool in the ranchers’ climate adaptation toolboxes, but its effect on drought response has not yet been evaluated. We use cognitive models of protective action decision making and planning to explore the effects of having a drought plan on the use of drought early warning information and drought response (and timing). Results of a cross-sectional
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A Social-Relational Approach for Analyzing Trust and Collaboration Networks as Preconditions for Rangeland Comanagement Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-12-04 Mehdi Ghorbani; Hossein Azadi
Social networks of stakeholders, especially those of adaptive comanagement, entailing a variety of collaboration and trustful relationships, have widely drawn the attention of researchers studying natural resource management. The structural pattern of relations of a social network has significant implications for how actors manage complex environmental challenges. This study aimed to specify whether
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Collective Action and Invasive Species Governance in Southern Arizona Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-11-29 Aaron M. Lien; Elizabeth Baldwin; Kim Franklin
Invasive plants can have significant negative effects on human and ecological communities, including reduced productivity and biodiversity and increased fire risk. Effective mitigation of invasive species likely requires action by heterogeneous actors who span jurisdictions, sectors, and levels of governance. While there has been significant research to develop targeted mitigation techniques that slow
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Practical postfire sagebrush shrub restoration techniques Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-11-29 Madeline N. Grant-Hoffman; Heidi L. Plank
Wildfire is increasing in frequency and size in the western United States with climate change and invasive species such as cheatgrass. This increase is also causing an increase in the need for restoration techniques, especially in low-elevation, arid shrublands. Sagebrush shrublands are home to the threatened Gunnison sage-grouse and can take decades, if not longer, to recover after fire. We investigated
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Prospects for stakeholder cooperation in effective implementation of enhanced rangeland restoration techniques in southern Tunisia Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-11-28 Mondher Fetoui; Aymen Frija; Boubaker Dhehibi; Mariem Sghaier; Mongi Sghaier
The objective of this paper is to identify prospects for stakeholder cooperation for effective implementation of enhanced rangeland restoration techniques under different land tenure status in Tataouine Governorate of southern Tunisia, through the rest technique locally called “Gdel.” This technique consists of leaving a given rangeland at rest to reconstitute the plant cover. A stakeholder analysis
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Compatibility of Dual Enterprises for Cattle and Deer in North America: A Quantitative Review Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-11-28 Stacy L. Hines; Timothy E. Fulbright; Alfonso J. Ortega-S; Stephen L. Webb; David G. Hewitt; Thomas W. Boutton
Grazing by livestock, particularly cattle (Bos spp.), is the dominant land use across North American rangelands and often co-occurs in habitats used by wildlife. Deer (Odocoileus spp.) are an ecologically and economically important native wildlife species in North America. Sustainable management and profitable economic returns require an understanding of the factors driving cattle-deer compatibility
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An abundance estimate of free-roaming horses on the Navajo Nation Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-11-16 Zach P. Wallace; Ryan M. Nielson; Dale W. Stahlecker; Guy T. DiDonato; Megan B. Ruehmann; Jeffrey Cole
Free-roaming horses (Equus ferus caballus) occur throughout arid and semiarid regions of the western United States, where they can decrease plant biomass and diversity, impair water quality, and reduce forage available to native wildlife and domestic livestock. Management of free-roaming horses on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and US Forest Service lands is determined by protections and population
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Factors influencing use of multipurpose trees and shrubs in arid and semiarid lands of Kenya Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-11-13 Patrick D. Kisangau; Jacinta M. Kimiti; Mary W.K. Mburu; Denyse J. Snelder
Multipurpose trees and shrubs are vital components of arid and semiarid ecosystems. They offer both regulatory and production services, yet there is inadequate information on their actual use and factors affecting utilization of these plant resources. A study was carried out in three agroecological zones (counties) of southeastern Kenya: Machakos (subhumid zone), Kajiado (semiarid zone), and Kitui
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Predicting cattle grazing behavior on rangeland using accelerometers Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-11-05 James E. Sprinkle; Joseph K. Sagers; John B. Hall; Melinda J. Ellison; Joel V. Yelich; Jameson R. Brennan; J. Bret Taylor; James B. Lamb
The objective was to determine if 3-axis accelerometers could be used to predict daily activity for cattle grazing rangeland. There were 48 Hereford × Angus 2-yr-old low- or high-residual feed intake (LRFI or HRFI) cows used in this 2-yr trial. Cattle grazed in 4 pasture treatments consisting of continuously grazed, control (CCON); continuously grazed, supplemented (CTRT); rotationally grazed, control
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Holistic versus continuous grazing in Patagonia: A station-scale case study of plant and animal production Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-10-27 Gabriel Oliva; Daniela Ferrante; Carla Cepeda; Gervasio Humano; Silvina Puig
We compared animal and vegetation responses of a 13 600-ha area under holistic grazing management (HGM) with a similar area under continuous grazing (CGM) in a Patagonian station. Limitations were a dry 2012−2016 experimental period, poorer soils, and grazing of native guanacos (Lama guanicoe) in the HGM area. Forage standing crop in this area before the experience was lower and remained so during
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Is the Visual Survey Method Effective for Measuring Fruit Production in Prosopis Tree Species? Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-10-24 Felipe S. Carevic; Elena Alarcón; Aliro Villacorta
Woodland managers in northern Chile require efficient means of estimating fruit production to improve their ability to sustainably manage mesquite tree ecosystem. We assessed the accuracy of the indirect visual count (VC) method for quantifying fruit production of two endangered mesquite trees, tamarugo (Prosopis tamarugo) and algarrobo (Prosopis alba), by comparing it with the fruit trap (FT) method
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Sire Influence on Redberry Juniper Consumption by Kid Goats Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-10-24 Kendall W. Tidwell; Cody B. Scott
Both preconditioning and genetic selection can improve intake of redberry juniper (Juniperus pinchotii Sudw.). Preconditioning an acceptance of juniper has relied on feeding juniper to sheep or goats for 14 d at weaning. Successful genetic selection for juniper consumption by goats has relied on selection of both sires and dams for juniper intake. This study compared redberry juniper intake by kid
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Soil and Plant Factors Affecting Changes in Forage Production Patterns on Mined Land 28 Yr After Reclamation Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-10-24 Stephen D. Merrill; John R. Hendrickson; Abbey F. Wick; Mark A. Liebig
Coal surface mining in the northern Great Plains of the United States often produces mining spoils with physical and chemical barriers to successful revegetation, and this has resulted in experiments on reclamation with salvaged soil materials. There is a need to determine changes in soil properties and plant community and productivity decades after reclamation. Experiments were initiated in the mid-1970s
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Multidecadal directional shift in shortgrass stocking rates Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-10-23 Edward J. Raynor; Justin D. Derner; Tevyn Baldwin; John P. Ritten; David J. Augustine
Bement (1969) developed a stocking rate (SR) guide for yearling cattle grazing shortgrass steppe based on relationships among average daily weight gain (ADG, kg · d−1), beef production per hectare (BP, kg · ha−1), and stocking rate (animal unit days, AUD · ha−1) measured in long-term grazing experiments conducted from 1940 to 1963. These analyses identified an optimal biophysical SR of 13.5 AUD · ha−1
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Monitoring for spatial regimes in rangelands Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-10-02 Caleb P. Roberts; Victoria M. Donovan; Craig R. Allen; David G. Angeler; Chris Helzer; David Wedin; Dirac Twidwell
In rangelands, monitoring spatial regime boundaries (i.e., boundaries between ecological states) could provide early warnings of state transitions, elucidate the spatial nature of state transitions, and quantify management outcomes. Here, we test the ability of established regime shift detection methods and traditional, local-scale rangeland monitoring data to identify spatial regime boundaries in
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Biological Soil Crusts of the Great Plains: A Review Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-09-22 Steven D. Warren; Roger Rosentreter; Nicole Pietrasiak
Biological soil crusts (BSCs), or biocrusts, are composed of fungi, bacteria, algae, and bryophytes (mosses, etc.) that occupy bare soil, entwining soil particles with filaments or rootlike structures and/or gluing them together with polysaccharide exudates to form a consolidated surface crust that stabilizes the soil against erosion. BSCs are common in arid and semiarid regions where vascular plant
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Pollinators of the Great Plains: Disturbances, stressors, management, and research needs Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-09-16 Brice B. Hanberry; Sandra J. DeBano; Thomas N. Kaye; Mary M. Rowland; Cynthia R. Hartway; Donna Shorrock
Recent global declines of pollinator populations have highlighted the importance of pollinators, which are undervalued despite essential contributions to ecosystem services. To identify critical knowledge gaps about pollinators, we describe the state of knowledge about responses of pollinators and their foraging and nesting resources to historical natural disturbances and new stressors in Great Plains
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How Cattle and Wild Ungulate Use of Riparian Areas Effects Measures of Streambank Disturbance Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-09-15 Brett B. Roper; W. Carl Saunders
Improper management of cattle near streams can negatively affect the processes that support stream and riparian ecosystems. To judge the success of riparian management strategies, public land management agencies often evaluate two metrics of livestock disturbance, stubble height and streambank alteration. There are concerns associated with how well these disturbance metrics reflect livestock use and
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Water use by mature and sapling western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) Trees Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-09-14 Ricardo Mata-González; Mohamed A.B. Abdallah; Carlos G. Ochoa
A common argument for western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) control in Oregon is the amount of water saved due to reduction in the number of trees. Yet a good understanding of water use by mature trees and sapling regrowth following mature juniper removal has not been documented. Such information is important to better assess how much water can be saved by juniper control. We used sap flow sensors
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Assessing variation in range health across grazed northern temperate grasslands Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-09-07 Kristine M. Dahl; Edward W. Bork; John R. Parkins; Kate Sherren
Contemporary methods of rangeland health (RH) assessment evaluate indicators designed to assess land use impacts on ecosystem function. These methods have not been tested relative to variation in specific grazing practices, including grazing period length and stocking rates during the growing season. We report on RH outcomes for three habitat types (native grassland, tame pasture, and forested pasture)
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Improving Drought Preparedness Among Utah Cattle Ranchers Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-09-02 D. Layne Coppock
Because drought impacts are accelerating due to climate change, drought preparedness on western rangelands matters now more than ever. Range professionals perceive, however, that many Utah ranchers remain ill-equipped for drought. The main research objective was to determine why ranchers often don't adopt recommended drought-mitigation tactics. Another objective was to clarify how grazing is managed
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Molecular evidence for impoverished mycorrhizal communities of Agropyron cristatum compared with nine other plant species in the Northern Great Plains Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-09-01 Kurt O. Reinhart; Matthew J. Rinella
Invasive plants may alter arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) communities on which resident plants depend. To determine if the invader crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum [L.] Gaertn.) associates with different AMF than resident plants, we compared AMF communities of six A. cristatum−dominated sites to five sagebrush steppe and three mixed-grass prairie sites in the Northern Great Plains. Consistent
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Using different preconditioning procedures and protein supplementation to increase redberry juniper intake by goats Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-08-30 Christopher S. Miller; Cody B. Scott
Both exposure at weaning and supplementation can increase intake of redberry juniper (Juniperus pinchotii Sudw.). When recently weaned sheep or goats are individually penned and fed redberry juniper for 14 d, intake of the plant increases. Unfortunately, this approach is labor intensive and impractical for most livestock producers. The objectives of this study were to determine if goats would accept
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Beyond Inventories: Emergence of a New Era in Rangeland Monitoring Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-08-02 Matthew O. Jones; David E. Naugle; Dirac Twidwell; Daniel R. Uden; Jeremy D. Maestas; Brady W. Allred
In the absence of technology-driven monitoring platforms, US rangeland policies, management practices, and outcome assessments have been primarily informed by the extrapolation of local information from national-scale rangeland inventories. A persistent monitoring gap between plot-level inventories and the scale at which rangeland assessments are conducted has required decision makers to fill data
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Monitoring Geomorphic and Traditional Post-Mine Reclamation using Digital Imagery: Vegetative Heterogeneity and Sampling Efficiency Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-06-30 Kurt R. Fleisher; Kristina M. Hufford
Geomorphic reclamation creates variable topography and surface architecture, including rolling hillslopes and drainages. In contrast, traditional methods of reclamation result in landscapes susceptible to erosion due to steep, linear gradients. Geomorphic approaches to surface mine reclamation are relatively new, and hypotheses suggest the use of geomorphic principles in reclamation will improve vegetation
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Ethnoindicators of Environmental Change: Local Knowledge used for Rangeland Management Among Smallholders of Patagonia Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-07-20 Lucía Castillo; César Mario Rostagno; Ana Ladio
The current degradation crisis in arid and semiarid lands is creating severe economic and social difficulties, aggravating the food situation and greatly affecting the least developed countries and small farmers around the world. However, little attention has been given to the wealth of knowledge held by rural livestock farmers on this phenomenon, particularly those linked to environmental indicators
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Effects of Defoliation, Litter, and Moss on Bromus arvensis in a Northern Mixed-Grass Prairie Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-08-02 Kurt O. Reinhart; Amanda R. Williams; Lance T. Vermeire
Exotic winter annual grasses (Bromus spp.) are a problem in North American rangelands. Defoliation, litter, and mosses are thought to regulate invasive annual Bromus species. We conducted a field experiment that tested effects of mechanical mowing and fungicide applications on Bromus arvensis, other and total graminoids, forbs, litter, and moss. Treatments caused litter biomass and moss cover to vary
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Effects of Terrain on Litter Decomposition and Nutrient Release in Typical Steppe of Eastern Gansu Loess Plateau Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-08-05 An Hu; Jay Angerer; Yaning Duan; Lei Xu; Shenghua Chang; Xianjiang Chen; Fujiang Hou
Terrain can influence vegetation composition, diversity, and biogeochemical cycling in grassland ecosystems. Solar radiation, soil temperature, and moisture distribution are dependent on terrain, which, in turn, can affect plant community structure, rate of litter mass decomposition, and carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus release. A litter decomposition experiment was conducted over 12 mo at a site representing
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Pipeline Impacts and Recovery of Dry Mixed-Grass Prairie Soil and Plant Communities Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-07-17 M. Anne Naeth; David A. Locky; Sarah R. Wilkinson; Meghan R. Nannt; Candace L. Bryks; Caitlin H. Low
Agricultural practices have historically dominated disturbance on North American grasslands. Disturbances from oil and gas have become increasingly common and problematic for grassland conservation. With growing demand for oil and gas, industry is actively implementing minimal disturbance techniques during construction to reduce impacts on grasslands. This study aimed to determine impacts of a large-diameter
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Response of Planted Sagebrush Seedlings to Cattle Grazing Applied to Decrease Fire Probability Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-06-24 Kirk W. Davies; Jon D. Bates; Chad S. Boyd
Restoration of non-sprouting shrubs after wildfire is increasingly becoming a management priority. In the western U.S., Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. wyomingensis Beetle & Young) restoration is a high priority, but sagebrush establishment from seed is sporadic. In contrast, planting seedlings often successfully restores sagebrush, but is expensive and time consuming. After
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Pellet Accumulation as a Proxy for Herbivore Pressure in a Mediterranean Ecosystem Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-08-03 Antoine Limpens; Emmanuel Serrano; Leidy Rivera-Sánchez; Jordi Bartolomé; Elena Baraza
Human activities have dramatically altered the distribution and density of large herbivores worldwide, particularly on islands. For example, thousands of goats were abandoned to the mountains on Majorca Island, Spain, during the tourism boom in the 1960s. Though this mammal is common throughout the Majorcan mountain range, the impact of goats on the main mountain plant communities has not yet been
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Quantifying the Dynamics of Livestock Distribution by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs): A Case Study of Yak Grazing at the Household Scale Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-06-26 Yi Sun; Shuhua Yi; Fujiang Hou; Dongwen Luo; Junqi Hu; Zhaoye Zhou
Managed grazing is the most extensive land use worldwide. Information about the spatio-temporal distribution of livestock is critical for grassland ecosystem management. However, no direct and cost-effective method exists to monitor livestock distribution under natural conditions. We proposed a practical method that uses unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and tested it at a typical household pasture
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Estimating Aboveground Net Primary Production (ANPP) Using Landsat 8-Based Indices: A Case Study From Hir-Neur Rangelands, Iran Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-08-05 Ardavan Ghorbani; Farid Dadjou; Mehdi Moameri; Asim Biswas
Aboveground Net Primary Production (ANPP), an indicator of ecosystems’ ability to capture and convert solar energy, is critical to evaluate and manage ecosystem carbon balance index including rangelands. Measuring ANPP over a large area is difficult at it varies with different factors including climate and anthropogenic, while satellite-based information shows strong opportunity. The aim of this study
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Season, Classifier, and Spatial Resolution Impact Honey Mesquite and Yellow Bluestem Detection using an Unmanned Aerial System Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-08-06 Matthew Jackson; Carlos Portillo-Quintero; Robert Cox; Glen Ritchie; Mark Johnson; Kamal Humagain; Mukti Ram Subedi
In Texas, mesquite and yellow-bluestem invasions are widespread. Identifying and monitoring juvenile and adult plants using high-resolution imagery from airborne sensors while they colonize new areas across the landscape can help land managers prioritize locations for treatment and eradication. In this study, we evaluated how data collection design using an unmanned aerial system (UAS) can affect plant
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Honey Mesquite Water Relations and Gas Exchange Following Herbicide-Induced Morphological Change Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-07-19 Caitlyn E. Cooper; Tian Zhang; R. James Ansley
Honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa Torr.) may maintain apical dominance after a treatment that causes partial top-kill (PTK) and leaves canopies with “stem flagging.” In contrast, top-killing treatments stimulate multistemmed regrowth (i.e., basal sprouting; BSP). Because this difference may impact competition with grasses, a better understanding of physiology associated with PTK and BSP canopies
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Herbicide Protection Pods (HPPs) Facilitate Sagebrush and Bunchgrass Establishment under Imazapic Control of Exotic Annual Grasses Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-08-02 Danielle R. Clenet; Kirk W. Davies; Dustin D. Johnson; Jay D. Kerby
Revegetation of exotic annual grass−invaded rangelands is a primary objective of land managers following wildfires. Controlling invasive annual grasses is essential to increasing revegetation success; however, preemergent herbicides used to control annual grasses prohibit immediate seeding due to nontarget herbicide damage. Thus, seeding is often delayed 1 yr following herbicide application. This delay
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Mapping and Assessing the Transboundary Elephant Corridor in the Patharia Hills Reserve Forest of Assam, India Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-06-20 Nazimur Rahman Talukdar; Parthankar Choudhury; Firoz Ahmad; Hassan Al-Razi; Raihan Ahmed
Asiatic elephants are facing numerous direct and indirect anthropogenic threats throughout their geographical distributional range. Consequent to the land use and land cover change, habitat loss, fragmentation, and deterioration of the corridor status are the prime threats for the species. The current study aimed to delineate the routes and migratory corridors of elephants in the Indo-Bangla forest
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The Feral Pig in a Low Impacted Ecosystem: Analysis of Diet Composition and Its Utility Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-07-01 Juan J. Montes-Sánchez; Leonardo Huato-Soberanis; Silvia E. Buntinx-Dios; José L. León-de la Luz
The feral pig is an exotic species in the Sierra La Laguna Biosphere Reserve, Baja California Sur, Mexico, and is considered harmful to the woodlands and tropical deciduous forest because of its foraging habits. To determine the taxonomic, nutrient, and energy content of the feral pig diet in this area, stomach contents of forty feral pigs were analyzed during the dry and rainy seasons in the woodlands
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Critique of Larson et al. (2019), Differences in Stubble Height Estimates Resulting from Systematic and Random Sample Designs Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-08-02 Brett B. Roper
Larsen et al. (2019) found stubble heights measured at a systematic interval resulted in higher variability and lower stubble heights than samples collected at random. As the authors do not suggest an environmental mechanism for these outcomes, their conclusions likely reflect differences in the number of plants evaluated at each plot and the low number of independent observers rather than the sample
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Rebuttal of Roper (2020) Critique of Larson et al. (2019) Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-08-02 Larry Larson; Pat Larson; Douglas Johnson
Roper (2020) conducted a critique of the Larson et al. (2019) study of the accuracy and confidence of data collected using systematic and random sampling designs. Roper (2020) did not provide a data set but speculated that the Larson et al. (2019) conclusions likely reflected differences in the number of plants evaluated at each plot and the low number of independent observers rather than the sample
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Agrosilvopastoral Systems and Well-Managed Pastures Increase Soil Carbon Stocks in the Brazilian Cerrado Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-08-25 Igor Costa de Freitas; Juliana Martins Ribeiro; Nayara Christina Almeida Araújo; Marcia Vitória Santos; Regynaldo Arruda Sampaio; Luiz Arnaldo Fernandes; Alcinei Mistico Azevedo; Brigitte Josefine Feigl; Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino Cerri; Leidivan Almeida Frazão
Agrosilvopastoral systems have been promoted as sustainable models that combine crops, livestock grazing, and forestry in the same area. We hypothesize that agrosilvopastoral systems can improve soil C and N stocks over time. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to evaluate the changes in soil C and N stocks after conversion of low-productivity pasture into well-managed pasture and agrosilvopastoral
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Stability of Water Temperature Attributes Over a 20-Yr Period Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-08-24 Larry Larson; P. A. Larson
The objective of this study was to determine if the stability of water temperature attributes suggested by an analysis conducted in 2003 (Larson and Larson 2001; 2003) was continued over a 20-yr period. The pattern of degree accumulations observed in the daily heating and cooling cycles of three streams in 1998, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2018 were studied in Grant County, Oregon. The average air and water
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Rapid Succession of Orthopteran Assemblages Driven by Patch Size and Connectivity Rangel. Ecol. Manag. (IF 2.095) Pub Date : 2020-08-18 Zoltán Kenyeres
Bearing in mind the current dramatic decline in biodiversity, in addition to preserving remaining natural habitat patches, performing successful habitat restorations and land-use is increasingly essential. In this study, the effect of patch size and connectivity on the early succession of orthopteran assemblages was examined in reconstructed Central European sand habitats. The first comprehensive study
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