Coping With Drought on California Rangelands

Macon, Daniel K.; Barry, Sheila; Becchetti, Theresa; Davy, Josh; Doran, Morgan; Finzel, Julie A.; George, Holly; Harper, John M.; Huntsinger, Lynn; Ingram, Roger; Lancaster, Donald E.; Larsen, Royce E.; Lewis, D. J.; Lile, David F.; McDougald, Neil K.; Mashiri, Fadzayi E.; Nader, Glenn; Oneto, Scott R.; Stackhouse, Jeffery W.; Roche, Leslie M.

doi:10.1016/j.rala.2016.06.005

Cited by 30 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Most importantly for studies of vegetation change, this mapping approach worked well in both normal and dry years. In semi-arid regions like California, drought is a frequent challenge managers must contend with [ 60 ], so weed assessment tools need to be robust to dry conditions. During both normal and low rainfall periods, kappa statistic values describing the accuracy of this classification were good to excellent (0.73–0.92).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel fine-scale aerial mapping approach quantifies grassland weed cover dynamics and response to management

et al. 2017

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Invasive weeds threaten the biodiversity and forage productivity of grasslands worldwide. However, management of these weeds is constrained by the practical difficulty of detecting small-scale infestations across large landscapes and by limits in understanding of landscape-scale invasion dynamics, including mechanisms that enable patches to expand, contract, or remain stable. While high-end hyperspectral remote sensing systems can effectively map vegetation cover, these systems are currently too costly and limited in availability for most land managers. We demonstrate application of a more accessible and cost-effective remote sensing approach, based on simple aerial imagery, for quantifying weed cover dynamics over time. In California annual grasslands, the target communities of interest include invasive weedy grasses (Aegilops triuncialis and Elymus caput-medusae) and desirable forage grass species (primarily Avena spp. and Bromus spp.). Detecting invasion of annual grasses into an annual-dominated community is particularly challenging, but we were able to consistently characterize these two communities based on their phenological differences in peak growth and senescence using maximum likelihood supervised classification of imagery acquired twice per year (in mid- and end-of season). This approach permitted us to map weed-dominated cover at a 1-m scale (correctly detecting 93% of weed patches across the landscape) and to evaluate weed cover change over time. We found that weed cover was more pervasive and persistent in management units that had no significant grazing for several years than in those that were grazed, whereas forage cover was more abundant and stable in the grazed units. This application demonstrates the power of this method for assessing fine-scale vegetation transitions across heterogeneous landscapes. It thus provides means for small-scale early detection of invasive species and for testing fundamental questions about landscape dynamics.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel fine-scale aerial mapping approach quantifies grassland weed cover dynamics and response to management

et al. 2017

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“…Such practices can also improve the resilience of an operation to extreme weather events by improving soil health, which could also support both climate change adaptation and mitigation. That said, the climate adaptation strategies used most often by California rangeland managers today are aimed at maintaining stocking flexibility, rather than augmenting soil carbon (Macon et al 2016).…”

Section: Corporate Supply Chain Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Payments for ecosystem services within the hybrid governance model: evaluating policy alignment and complementarity on California rangelands

Biggs¹,

Hafner²,

Mashiri³

et al. 2021

E&S

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Governance of global natural resources is increasingly hybrid, with complementary public and private sector initiatives layered on landscapes to improve environmental outcomes. The challenge of polycentric land use governance is alignment of goals across diverse governance mechanisms when agricultural producers, public agencies, and corporations have distinct motivations. This case study of soil carbon governance on California rangelands explores a new payment for ecosystem services (PES) initiative led by the food and agriculture industry, called the Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC). Applying hybrid governance theory to agricultural lands, we conduct an ex-ante policy evaluation of potential policy impact based on (i) alignment between corporate sustainability goals and ranchers' priorities and (ii) complementarity of the ESMC market with existing public and private policies enabling rangeland conservation. We found corporations developing the PES market to be motivated by carbon insetting, the objectives of which converge with ranchers' goals of preserving soils. Each policy offers distinct benefits and challenges, with synergies around climate change adaptation and soil health. As a new policy tool, carbon markets like the ESMC are positioned to meet demand for soil health financing, support resilience and ranch productivity, and improve ranchers' access to soil health data for adaptive management. Given carbon markets' outcome-based payment structure, we highlight the importance of complementary governance mechanisms that mitigate upfront risk with financial and technical support during the transition period, including Farm Bill cost-share programs and private sector financing tools. This policy evaluation highlights the challenges and opportunities surrounding rangelands soil carbon governance, particularly the trade-offs that ranchers, corporations, and society at large must consider for landscape-scale conservation programs.

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“…The major triggering factors were the lack of optimum rainfall during the belg or additional rain season which usually starts from March-June and summer or the main rain season (July-early September). Macon et al (2016) also reported that California has been severely affected by droughts due to high temperatures and dry summer seasons that have significantly affected the agricultural sector (e.g., seasonal declines in the quality of dryland forage). The change in rainfall patterns and wind erosion, increased salinization and decreased carbon mineralization aggravates the incidence of drought (Thomas, 2008).…”

Section: Smallholder Farmers' Drought Coping Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the acute drought period, various coping strategies have been adopted by the farmers (e.g., reducing food sales, reducing food intake, removing children from school and liquidating productive assets such as livestock, land, trees, among others) (Shiferaw et al, 2014). Therefore, there is no single solution to cope-up with drought as it takes an integrated strategy composed of several practices for exchanging knowledge, designing response strategies and implementing solutions (Macon et al, 2016). As a result, the ability to cope with drought varies widely from one country to another and from one area, community or population group to another (Wilhite et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Farmer’s Drought Response and Coping Strategies at Household Level in Southern Tigray, Ethiopia

Gidey

Gebregergis

Zeweld

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background Drought is one of the most damaging climate-induced threats impacting the lives of many people every year. The purpose of this study was to determine farmer’s drought coping strategies both proactive and reactive responses at household level based on the field survey in Raya Azebo and Raya Chercher districts, southern Tigray, Ethiopia. Agro–climatological based 246 households were sampled from the lowlands (36), midlands (202) and highlands (8). Multinomial logit model was used to identify best drought coping strategies. Results about 24.8% of female headed and 75.2% of male headed respondents have experienced mild to extremely severe drought in the last three decades. A significant association between the various drought severity and household heads (chi–square = 9.861, df = 3, p–value < 0.05) observed. Conclusions this study concluded that collection and saving of pasture, soil and water conservation practices, and use of weather prediction information to adjust saving and farming system are best proactive drought coping strategies. Whereas, feeding of roasted cactus for livestock, borrowing loans for running small business, selling of household assets and reduction of food consumptions are the major reactive or off–farm drought coping strategies in the study area. If the responses of smallholder farmers are not well supported by the concerned bodies, the existing disaster preparedness and early warning systems in the area might be significantly affected and its impacts will be very serious on both the livelihood of local people and natural resources in the area.

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Coping With Drought on California Rangelands

Cited by 30 publications

References 5 publications

Novel fine-scale aerial mapping approach quantifies grassland weed cover dynamics and response to management

Novel fine-scale aerial mapping approach quantifies grassland weed cover dynamics and response to management

Payments for ecosystem services within the hybrid governance model: evaluating policy alignment and complementarity on California rangelands

Farmer’s Drought Response and Coping Strategies at Household Level in Southern Tigray, Ethiopia

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