Adaptive Management of Rangeland Systems

Abstract

Adaptive management is an approach to natural resource management that uses structured learning to reduce uncertainties for the improvement of management over time. The origins of adaptive management are linked to ideas of resilience theory and complex systems. Rangeland management is particularly well suited for the application of adaptive management, having sufficient controllability and reducible uncertainties. Adaptive management applies the tools of structured decision making and requires monitoring, evaluation, and adjustment of management. Adaptive governance, involving sharing of power and knowledge among relevant stakeholders, is often required to address conflict situations. Natural resource laws and regulations can present a barrier to adaptive management when requirements for legal certainty are met with environmental uncertainty. However, adaptive management is possible, as illustrated by two cases presented in this chapter. Despite challenges and limitations, when applied appropriately adaptive management leads to improved management through structured learning, and rangeland management is an area in which adaptive management shows promise and should be further explored.

Floristic Patterns and Qualities of Forage Species from Mountainous Rangeland in the Middle Black Sea Region of Turkey

“…The high number of invader species may risk for rangelands, forage quantity and quality and livestock production, quality and health (Allen et al, 2017;Casler and Undersander, 2019;Uzun and Ocak, 2019). In general, the species richness and diversity in the rangelands decrease depending on the grazing pressure and human activities (Erkovan et al, 2016;Abdelaal et al, 2019;Uzun and Ocak, 2019).…”

“…The result of invader species in the studied rangeland may be related to the fact that overgrazing can increase invasive plant establishment and proliferation. Moreover, the effects of invader species on soil N and P dynamics (Eviner et al, 2012) can greatly alter plant species composition, particularly suppressing desirable native species (Allen et al, 2017). These may explain why the invasive species were relatively high and 5 species were not exclusive for the studied rangeland habitat.…”

“…Recently, Aydin et al (2019) showed that although the nutritive values of rangeland species during growth stages were different, and forage qualities of species related to Poaceae and other botanical families were higher than those of the family Poaceae. There is a unique function of invasive species such as increasing productivity in overgrazed rangeland compared to native species, depending on grazing intensity and topography such as aspect and elevation (Eviner et al, 2012;Allen et al, 2017;Uzun et al, 2018). As such, in livestock production systems based on the exploitation of rangelands, farmers should be aware of floristic features (FF) of the most basic rangeland forages.…”

Double-Loop Learning in Adaptive Management: The Need, the Challenge, and the Opportunity

“…Fujitani et al (2017) found that active participation in adaptive management (of fish stocking) increased stakeholders’ knowledge and capacity for management of their fisheries resources. In a project for Great Plains grassland restoration via controlled burning (Twidwell et al 2013b), maintaining involvement of landowners’ groups has been a primary goal of monitoring and evaluating effectiveness of management actions (Allen et al 2017). It is of course important to recognize that such meaningful stakeholder engagement involves increased costs to stakeholders in terms of the commitment of time and effort to attend meetings, develop knowledge, or represent a stakeholder group (Beckley et al 2005).…”

Early Warnings for State Transitions

“…Overall, the EWI metrics we review and, more broadly, the early warning/spatial regime paradigm represent quantitative, more objective decision-making tools for rangeland management in the face of ecological uncertainty (Lindenmayer and Likens, 2009;Allen et al, 2017). Traditional inventory and monitoring efforts are not designed with the spatial specificity needed to provide indicators of sudden change in many rangeland systems; however, statistical theory is advancing to be able to better incorporate broad-scale monitoring and inventory data for purposes of early warning and regime shift detection.…”