Climate‐change adaptation on rangelands: linking regional exposure with diverse adaptive capacity

Briske, David D.; Joyce, Linda A.; Polley, H. Wayne; Brown, Joel R.; Wolter, Klaus; Morgan, Jack A.; McCarl, Bruce A.; Bailey, Derek W.

doi:10.1890/140266

Cited by 119 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Anandhi et al (2016) illustrated a framework for quantifying exposure using a number of climate indices that impact cropping systems of Kansas. Given that precise projections of exposure are currently not possible, multiple adaptation strategies and options are needed to address diverse needs of managers and enterprises (Briske et al 2015). Fig.…”

Section: Exposurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This emphasizes flexibility as a central feature of enterprises that adapt successfully to climate change (Pelling 2011). Adaptive capacity is highly diverse among agricultural producers in terms of their ability to plan, recognize, and manage risk, and to adopt and implement adaptation strategies (Marshall 2010;Briske et al 2015). Therefore, an array of flexible and cost-effective adaptation strategies are needed that can address the varied sensitivities and adaptive capacities within agricultural systems.…”

Section: Adaptive Capacity and Adaptive Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, an array of flexible and cost-effective adaptation strategies are needed that can address the varied sensitivities and adaptive capacities within agricultural systems. Policies, strategies, and incentives designed to support climate adaptation will need to consider existing adaptive capacity of individuals or groups and the region-specific climatic impacts that are anticipated (Briske et al 2015).…”

Section: Adaptive Capacity and Adaptive Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Warming and drying, especially in southern portions of the region, are anticipated to modify plant community composition and vegetative cover, including an increase in woody plant density and cover or die-off of some species during extreme drought (Briske et al 2015). For example, eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) was the only southern savanna dominant plant species in which neither survival nor aboveground mass was adversely affected by warming and intensified summer drought (Volder et al 2013).…”

Section: • Reduced Vegetative Cover (D)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Adaptive strategies for extensive livestock production involve changes in grazing management, livestock breeds or species, pest management, and enterprise structure, and even geographic re-location of livestock production systems to contend with impacts of climate change in the region (Table 3). These strategies vary greatly in their extent of modification, timing of implementation, specificity of impact, and potential for success or failure (Briske et al 2015). Adaptive capacity of enterprise managers-which is often overlooked-is as important to effective adaptation planning as is the intensity and duration of climatic variability.…”

Section: Grazing Land Livestockmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Vulnerability of Southern Plains agriculture to climate change

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Projections of greater interannual and intrannual climate variability, including increasing temperatures, longer and more intense drought periods, and more extreme precipitation events, present growing challenges for agricultural production in the Southern Plains of the USA. We assess agricultural vulnerabilities within this region to support identification and development of adaptation strategies at regional to local scales, where many management decisions are made. Exposure to the synergistic effects of warming, such as fewer and more intense precipitation events and greater overall weather variability, will uniquely affect rain-fed and irrigated cropping, high-value specialty crops, extensive and intensive livestock production, and forestry. Although the sensitivities of various agricultural sectors to climatic stressors can be difficult to identify at regional scales, we summarize that crops irrigated from the Ogallala aquifer possess a high sensitivity; rangeland beef cattle production a low sensitivity; and rain-fed crops, forestry, and specialty crops intermediate sensitivities. Numerous adaptation strategies have been identified, including drought contingency planning, increased soil health, improved forecasts and associated decision support tools, and implementation of policies and financial instruments for risk management. However, the extent to which these strategies are adopted is variable and influenced by both biophysical and socioeconomic considerations. Inadequate local-and regional-scale climate risk and resilience information suggests that climate vulnerability research and climate adaptation approaches need to include bottom-up approaches such as learning networks and peer-to-peer communication.

show abstract

Section: Exposurementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Adaptive Capacity and Adaptive Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Adaptive Capacity and Adaptive Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: • Reduced Vegetative Cover (D)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Grazing Land Livestockmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Vulnerability of Southern Plains agriculture to climate change

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Practical considerations for adaptive strategies by US grazing land managers with a changing climate

Derner

Wilmer

Stackhouse-Lawson

et al. 2023

Agrosystems Geosci & Env

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We outline practical considerations for grazing land adaptations with a changing climate, with an emphasis on the ranch operation scale and specific attention to directional climate changes and increased climate variability. These adaptive strategies fall into two themes: flexibility and learning under uncertainty. Ranches and livestock operations with greater land, social, or other capital resources may have more flexibility. Risk can be reduced for managers (ranchers, farmers, operators, and livestock managers) through participation in conservation or farm policy programs and/or market-based approaches. Bolstering adaptive capacity across landscapes and time can originate from social capital of operators and strategic collaborations among managers and scientists. As climate diverges from historical baselines and the realm of managers' experiential knowledge, new conceptual frameworks are needed to structure conversations, influence research relevancy and impact, and drive imaginative solutions among researchers, managers, and local communities for socioecological systems. We provide simplified frameworks to help guide conversation, future research, and new imaginative solutions for systems-scale knowledge needs and adaptation to address increasingly uncertain and complex change at multiple scales. Practical considerations for adaptive strategies by grazing land managers with a changing climate will be accelerated through (1) collaborative efforts among managers and explicitly with science-management partnerships becoming more mainstream, (2) co-produced research with managers and researchers at ranch scales, (3) development of communities of practice and associated learning opportunities, and (4) continued co-development and advancement of technologies and tools that result in high uptake adoption by ranch managers.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

show abstract

Adaptive rangeland management benefits grassland birds utilizing opposing vegetation structure in the shortgrass steppe

Davis

Augustine²,

Monroe

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Rangelands are temporally and spatially complex socioecological systems on which the predominant land use is livestock production. In North America, rangelands also contain approximately 80% of remaining habitat for grassland birds, a guild of species that has experienced precipitous declines since the 1970s. While livestock grazing management may benefit certain grassland bird species by generating the vegetation structure and density they prefer, these outcomes are poorly understood for avian species breeding in the shortgrass steppe. We evaluated how two grazing management systems, continuous, season‐long grazing and adaptive, rest‐rotational grazing, affected grassland bird abundance from 2013 to 2017 in Colorado's shortgrass steppe. We examined grazing impacts in conjunction with ecological sites, which constitute unique soil and plant communities. When grazing management was evaluated in conjunction with spatial variation in ecological sites, we found three of our five focal bird species responded to grazing management. McCown's Longspur abundance decreased in pastures rested from grazing the previous year. The effect of grazing on Horned Lark and Grasshopper Sparrow depended on ecological site: Horned Lark density was highest in pastures that were intensively grazed and Grasshopper Sparrow density was highest in pastures that were rested the previous year in the least productive ecological site. In addition, densities of all species varied across ecological sites. Our results suggest consideration of soil and vegetation characteristics can inform how adaptive management is applied on a landscape to benefit the full suite of breeding grassland birds, including species that have seemingly contrasting habitat needs. For example, a manager could target adaptive drought mitigation practices, such as resting pastures for 1 yr to generate grassbanks, in less productive soils to benefit grassland birds that prefer taller/denser vegetation structure, or could apply intensive, short‐duration grazing on less productive soils to benefit species preferring shorter/sparser vegetation. A single year of intensive, short‐duration grazing (i.e., one component of our rotational treatment) across the landscape, however, might not create sufficient habitat for species that prefer short/sparse vegetation in our system (e.g., McCown's Longspur). Ultimately, our study indicates how cattle production on rangelands can congruently support grassland bird populations in the shortgrass steppe.

show abstract

Climate‐change adaptation on rangelands: linking regional exposure with diverse adaptive capacity

Abstract: TX; continued on p 256 Rangeland climate-change adaptation DD Briske et al. 250 www.frontiersinecology.org

Cited by 119 publications

References 42 publications

Vulnerability of Southern Plains agriculture to climate change

Vulnerability of Southern Plains agriculture to climate change

Practical considerations for adaptive strategies by US grazing land managers with a changing climate

Adaptive rangeland management benefits grassland birds utilizing opposing vegetation structure in the shortgrass steppe

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About