Climate change effects on rangelands and rangeland management: affirming the need for monitoring

Abstract

Uncertainty as to the extent and magnitude of changes in conditions that might occur due to climate change poses a problem for land and resource managers as they seek to adapt to changes and mitigate effects of climate variability. We illustrate using scenarios of projected future conditions on rangelands in the Northern Great Plains and Desert Southwest of the United States. These two regions are different in the ways climate change is projected to affect the regions. Projection of a longer and warmer growing season in the Northern Great Plains could lead to increased forage production and land productivity. Highly uncertain effects on summer monsoons that primarily control rangeland productivity in the Desert Southwest, combined with the possibility of more intense and/or frequent drought events, could present land managers with challenges stemming from decreased forage production and land productivity. Climate projections, though uncertain, provide land managers with basic insight into future conditions they might encounter. They need more. A focus on vulnerability and resilience, with explicit recognition of interactions between ecological and socio‐economic factors, coupled with systematic monitoring and assessment of observable conditions on the land to supplement information based on climate projections, will more effectively provide critical and specific information managers need to adaptively manage rangelands under uncertain climate futures.

Analyzing NPP Response of Different Rangeland Types to Climatic Parameters over Mongolia

“…Rangeland ecosystems are vital for farming and the environments that regulate the global carbon cycle [1]. Rangeland includes several vegetation types such as grasslands, shrublands, savannas, and marshes, which together cover about 40% of the world's land area [2,3]. Mongolia has 2.6% of the world's rangelands, constituting around 83% of the country's territory [4,5].…”

Improving Ecological Restoration to Curb Biotic Invasion—A Practical Guide

“…This approach requires careful consideration of species selection, abundance, and planting order. Increasing evidence also indicates that local restoration needs to be informed by landscape or regional contexts (Bell et al 2008) and possible temporal trends in climate conditions (Joyce et al 2013; McCollum et al 2017). Additionally, the success of restoration has been constrained by the lack of careful consideration of invasive species and poor design at the beginning of the project.…”

Impact of Climate Change on Livestock Returns and Rangeland Ecosystem Sustainability in the Southwest

“…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. Our approach complements existing work that predicts the ecological impacts of climate change on rangelands (Baker et al 1993; McCollum et al 2017 and others) and the rangeland economics and management literature that has explored stocking recommendations under climatic uncertainty (Ritten et al 2010; Kachergis et al 2014; Kobayashi, Rollins, and Taylor 2014).…”