Fragmentation of rangelands: Implications for humans, animals, and landscapes

Hobbs, N. Thompson; Galvin, Kathleen A.; Stokes, Chris; Lackett, Jill M.; Ash, Andrew; Boone, Randall B.; Reid, Robin S.; Thornton, Philip K.

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2008.07.011

Cited by 252 publications

(192 citation statements)

References 92 publications

(116 reference statements)

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“…Additionally, having yearling livestock and using shorter grazing periods are associated with greater flexibility in drought preparation (Table 1). Ranch size affords ecological and economic benefits including heterogeneity of forage, greater capital, and economies of scale (Scoones 1995, Stokes et al 2006, Hobbs et al 2008, McAllister et al 2009). Ranch size may be particularly important in drought-prone Wyoming, which has the largest ranches on average in the US (data from 2007 National Agricultural Census).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing flexibility in rangeland management during drought

Kachergis¹,

Derner²,

Cutts³

et al. 2014

Ecosphere

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Abstract. Extreme droughts like the recent 2011-2013 drought impacting the central and western UnitedStates present a challenge to sustaining livestock ranching operations and the ecosystem goods and services they produce. Wyoming ranchers manage half of this drought-prone state and are at the forefront of this challenge. We examined Wyoming ranchers' drought management strategies and how ranch characteristics affect drought management flexibility, a key component of resilience, through a mail survey. We find that many survey respondents manage drought in similar ways, by selling livestock and buying feed, highlighting the market risks associated with drought. Ranches that are larger, include yearling livestock, use shorter grazing periods, and/or incorporate alternative on-ranch activities (e.g., hunting) use more drought management practices and thus have greater flexibility. Larger ranches experience fewer drought impacts, highlighting advantages of a larger resource base. Our findings suggest three components of national drought policy that encourages flexibility and thus increases resilience of ranches to drought: (1) encouraging forage-sharing mechanisms; (2) promoting income diversification that is independent of climatic variability; and (3) facilitating a shift to diversified livestock production systems. These measures could increase sustainability of ranching livelihoods and provision of ecosystem services despite predicted increases in intensity and duration of future droughts.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing flexibility in rangeland management during drought

Kachergis¹,

Derner²,

Cutts³

et al. 2014

Ecosphere

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“…This means that access to heterogeneity can be a critically important feature of habitats for mobile herbivores (Owen-Smith 2004;Fryxell et al 2005;Hobbs et al 2008;Searle et al 2010). If access to heterogeneity is limited by habitat fragmentation, mobile herbivores can suffer a reduction in diet quality and food availability leading to deleterious changes to population dynamics and abundance (Hobbs et al 2008, Hobbs & Gordon 2010, Searle et al 2010, Blackburn et al 2011, Herbener et al 2012). These interactions between access to spatial and temporal heterogeneity and ungulate performance will mediate the response of ungulate populations to environmental change, such as changing land-use (including oil and gas development) and climate change.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asynchronous vegetation phenology enhances winter body condition of a large mobile herbivore

et al. 2015

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Article (refereed) -postprintSearle, Kate R.; Rice, Mindy B.; Anderson, Charles R.; Bishop, Chad; Hobbs, N.T. 2015. Asynchronous vegetation phenology enhances winter body condition of a large mobile herbivore. Oecologia, 179 (2). 377-391. 10.1007/s00442-015-3348-9 Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.ukThe NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner. AbstractUnderstanding how spatial and temporal heterogeneity influence ecological processes forms a central challenge in ecology. Individual responses to heterogeneity shape population dynamics, therefore understanding these responses is central to sustainable population management. Emerging evidence has shown that herbivores track heterogeneity in nutritional quality of vegetation by responding to phenological differences in plants. We quantified the benefits mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) accrue from accessing habitats with asynchronous plant phenology in northwest Colorado over three years. Our analysis examined both the direct physiological and indirect environmental effects of weather and vegetation phenology on mule deer winter body condition. We identified several important effects of annual weather patterns and topographical variables on vegetation phenology in the home ranges of mule deer. Crucially, temporal patterns of vegetation phenology were linked with differences in body condition, with deer tending to show poorer body condition in areas with less asynchronous vegetation green-up and later vegetation onset. The direct physiological effect of previous winter precipitation on mule deer body condition was much less important than the indirect effect mediated by vegetation phenology. Additionally, the influence of vegetation phenology on body fat was much stronger than that of overall vegetation productivity. In summary, changing annual weather patterns, particularly in relation to seasonal precipitation, have the potential to alter body condition of this important ungulate species during the critical winter period. This finding highlights the importance of maintaining large contiguous areas of spatially and temporally variable resources to allow animals to compensate behaviourally for changing climate-driven resource patterns.

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“…Similarly, profound changes in agricultural practices induced by agricultural production methods, technological advances and government policies, have modified the landscape structure and composition (Burel and Baudry, 1990; Macdonald and Johnson, 2000; Robinson and Sutherland, 2002;Le Féon et al, 2010). This agricultural intensification has affected land-use patterns, resulting in 1) a large increase in cultivated areas, 2) fragmentation of uncultivated features including forests, hedgerows (Burel and Baudry, 1999), and natural meadows (Monteiro et al, 2011), and 3) the loss of these seminatural elements (Agger and Brandt, 1988;Hobbs et al, 2008). Furthermore, the decrease in landscape heterogeneity has contributed to the decline of biodiversity The composition and structure of the landscape have strong effects on honey bees, particularly with regard to the pollen collected and the abundance of flower-visiting bees (Steffan-Dewenter et al, 2002; Steffan-Dewenter and Kuhn, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Correlating the Pollens Gathered by Apis Mellifera With the Landscape Features in Western France

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Honey bee health depends on various factors, including the availability of food resources and chronic exposure to toxins in the foraging area. These parameters can be evaluated using indicators based on either pollen gathered to the hive or landscape features of the foraging area, including the structure, land use, or density of such specific landscape elements as hedgerows.This study examines the correlation between the diversity of pollens gathered and the landscape features in a 3-km radius using Geographic Information System technology. Palynological analyses were performed on pollen pellets collected from sixteen apiaries in western France during one year. Richness, diversity and similarity indices were calculated for land-cover features and palynological data and then compared. The land-cover analyses permitted the identification of three different landscape contexts (hedgerow, cultivated, and urban landscapes). Although the palynological profiles were highly diverse, some taxa were conserved between hives. The flower richness was greater in the apiaries from urban landscapes than in apiaries from rural landscapes, regardless of the dominant land-cover. The statistical analysis did not associate a specific flora with a specific landscape. However, it was possible to distinguish the pollen gathered by bees in urban landscapes and from pollen collected in rural areas.

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Fragmentation of rangelands: Implications for humans, animals, and landscapes

Cited by 252 publications

References 92 publications

Increasing flexibility in rangeland management during drought

Increasing flexibility in rangeland management during drought

Asynchronous vegetation phenology enhances winter body condition of a large mobile herbivore

Correlating the Pollens Gathered by Apis Mellifera With the Landscape Features in Western France

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