Does Holistic Planned Grazing™ work on native rangelands?

Hawkins, Heidi‐Jayne; Short, Alan; Kirkman, Kevin

doi:10.2989/10220119.2017.1367328

Cited by 21 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Papers published between the 1980s and the present have repeatedly questioned the efficacy of various forms of MP management, particularly Butterworth's (1999, 2016) holistic approach (e.g., Holechek et al, 2000;Briske et al, 2008;Hawkins et al, 2017;and others). Some of the hypotheses and observations promoted by Savory, such as the ability of holistic management to mitigate desertification and climate change (Savory, 2013) have been particularly contentious (Briske et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, there is a lack of consensus on the benefits of MP and RM management to plant community structure or function relative to IC and conventional grazing practice (Gosnell et al, 2020 and references therein). Teague et al (2013) suggested possible explanations for contradictory results, but disagreements remain about the efficacy of multipaddock techniques relative to conventionally managed grazing (e.g., Barnes and Denny, 1991;McCollum et al, 1999;Briske et al, 2008;Hawkins et al, 2017;and others). These discrepancies may be due, in part, to differences in the ways managers respond to environmental variability (Voisin, 1959).…”

Section: Impacts To Plant Communities and Soil Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do Differences in Livestock Management Practices Influence Environmental Impacts?

Kleppel

2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Herbivore-carnivore interactions are fundamental to grassland ecosystem functionality and to the human cultures that have long depended on these ecosystems for their nutrition. However, a large literature has developed during the past century indicating that animal agriculture is responsible for numerous negative environmental impacts. In this paper, I review literature on some of the environmental impacts of two different livestock management approaches, industrial-conventional (IC) management and regenerative-multi-paddock (RM) management. I consider the null hypothesis that the environmental impacts of ruminant livestock production are independent of the approach used to manage animals and grazing lands. It evident in the literature that managed grazing ecosystems are complex, and for certain system attributes, such as forage quality and plant community structure, the better management system is difficult to discern. In other areas definitive differences in impacts appear clearly management dependent. For instance, the soils of RM grasslands exhibit higher microbial biomass and diversity, and higher fungal: bacterial ratios than IC soils. Several impacts associated with livestock production appear to have less to do with grazing, per se, and more to do with support factors, such as feed production and manure management. The compilation of data from numerous sources suggests that RM management may reduce blue withdrawals and GHG emissions by >50%, relative to IC management. Accumulating data also suggest that a significant portion of anthropogenic CO 2-eq emissions can be removed from the atmosphere and stored in the soil by applying RM management practices. Finally, it is suggested that while research design may affect the outcomes of some studies, the quality and quantity of the science may not resolve many discrepancies in the data. It is suggested that the viability and sustainability of animal agriculture may depend upon broadening the goals of practitioners to include both food production and the restoration and protection of agricultural ecosystem services.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Impacts To Plant Communities and Soil Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Differences in Livestock Management Practices Influence Environmental Impacts?

Kleppel

2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…The experimental component of the project compares two different livestock grazing management strategies (CARM versus TRM, described in detail below). The experiment was motivated by the contrast between the findings of small-scale experimental studies that have consistently shown that rotational, i.e., multipaddock, grazing does not enhance vegetation or animal performance compared to continuous, season-long grazing (reviewed by Briske et al 2008, Hawkins et al 2017 versus the findings of some rangeland and social scientists, working at the scale of ranching enterprises, who report ecological and economic benefits from various forms of rotational grazing (Sherren et al 2012, Teague andBarnes 2017). A key unanswered question is whether the adaptive component of rotational grazing, whereby managers move livestock in response to short-term variation in weather and forage availability across a landscape, can effectively generate desired ecosystem services (Teague and Barnes 2017).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complexity fosters learning in collaborative adaptive management

Fernández‐Giménez¹,

Augustine²,

Porensky³

et al. 2019

E&S

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Learning is recognized as central to collaborative adaptive management (CAM), yet few longitudinal studies examine how learning occurs in CAM or apply the science of learning to interpret this process. We present an analysis of decision-making processes within the collaborative adaptive rangeland management (CARM) experiment, in which 11 stakeholders use a structured CAM process to make decisions about livestock grazing and vegetation management for beef, vegetation, and wildlife objectives. We analyzed four years of meeting transcripts, stakeholder communications, and biophysical monitoring data to ask what facilitated and challenged stakeholder decision making, how challenges affected stakeholder learning, and whether CARM met theorized criteria for effective CAM. Despite thorough monitoring and natural resource agency commitment to implementing collaborative decisions, CARM participants encountered multiple decision-making challenges born of ecological and social complexity. CARM was effective in achieving several of its management objectives, including reduced ecological uncertainty, knowledge coproduction, and multiple-loop social learning. CARM revealed limitations of the idealized CAM cycle and challenged conceptions of adaptive management that separate reduction of scientific uncertainty from participatory and management dimensions. We present a revised, empirically grounded CAM framework that depicts CAM as a spiral rather than a circle, where feedback loops between monitoring data and management decisions are never fully closed. Instead, complexities including time-lags, trade-offs, path-dependency, and tensions among stakeholders' differing types of knowledge and social worlds both constrain decision making and foster learning by creating disorienting dilemmas that challenge participants' pre-existing mental models and relationships. Based on these findings, we share recommendations for accelerating learning in CAM processes.

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“…However, the effectiveness of such practices in maintaining or improving rangeland conditions has not been empirically tested in Mongolia. In other rangelands globally, grazing practices that ecological theory and pastoralist knowledge predict should lead to improved ecological conditions often do not actually result in superior measured ecological outcomes [14,15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using an integrated social-ecological analysis to detect effects of household herding practices on indicators of rangeland resilience in Mongolia

Fernández‐Giménez

Allington

Angerer

et al. 2018

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Temperate grasslands, including those of northern Eurasia, are among the most imperiled ecosystems on Earth. Eighty percent of Mongolia's land area is rangeland, where interacting climate, land-use and changes in governance threaten the sustainability of Mongolia's rangelands and pastoral culture. Particularly concerning are the potential ecological impacts of changing pastoral grazing practices-namely declining use of grazing reserves and pastoral mobility. However, like other grazing practices globally, there have been no empirical studies to evaluate the effects of specific Mongolian grazing practices on ecological function at a management scale. We collected data on the grazing practices of 130 pastoral households across four ecological zones and sampled ecological conditions in their winter pastures. We used a novel social-ecological analysis process to (1) develop integrated, holistic indicators of ecological function using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and (2) assess the effects of individual grazing practices on these indicators using statistical matching to control for confounding management and contextual factors. We identified two latent factors related to ecological and pastoral resilience: Factor 1 represents resource retention and soil stability and Factor 2 represents species richness and functional diversity. Using these two factors as response variables, we found that the values of both resilience factors were higher in pastures where households made fall or winter otor migrations or set aside grazing reserves. This study provides the first management-scale empirical test of the ecological response to specific grazing practices in Mongolia, using an approach that can be applied in other rangeland systems. Our findings highlight the importance to ecological and pastoral resilience of supporting traditional pastoral practices of mobility and grazing reserves, while also controlling stocking densities, increasing rangeland monitoring, and ensuring equitable access to state-designated emergency grazing reserves at local, regional, and national levels.

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Does Holistic Planned Grazing™ work on native rangelands?

Cited by 21 publications

References 22 publications

Do Differences in Livestock Management Practices Influence Environmental Impacts?

Do Differences in Livestock Management Practices Influence Environmental Impacts?

Complexity fosters learning in collaborative adaptive management

Using an integrated social-ecological analysis to detect effects of household herding practices on indicators of rangeland resilience in Mongolia

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