Not listed
THE PROJECT TEAM WILL CREATE A SPATIALLY-EXPLICIT, WEB-BASED DECISION SUPPORT TOOL TO INFORM LANDOWNERS' AND MANAGERS' SUSTAINABLE GRAZING MANAGEMENT DECISIONS; THE TOOL WILL COMBINE REMOTELY-SENSED RANGELAND PRODUCTION DATA WITH USER-DEFINED, PLACE-BASED KNOWLEDGE, AND THE TEAM WILL ENGAGE LAND MANAGERS IN TOOL DEVELOPMENT SO THAT THE TOOL MEETS THEIR MANAGEMENT-RELEVANT NEEDS AND CAN BE USED TO HELP CONSERVE HEALTHY RANGELANDS AND THE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES THEY PROVIDE. RANGELANDS ACROSS THE WESTERN UNITED STATES SUPPORT THE PROVISION OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND ARE A KEY RENEWABLE RESOURCE SUPPORTING LIVELIHOODS OF RANCHERS AND THE ASSOCIATED LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY. RANGELAND-BASED LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION MAINTAINS NATURALLY-OCCURRING PLANT COMMUNITIES, PROVIDING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES ALONGSIDE FOOD AND FIBER PRODUCTION. GRAZING MANAGEMENT DECISIONS THAT DETERMINE WHEN, WHERE, AND HOW MUCH OF THE RANGELAND VEGETATION'S ANNUAL ABOVEGROUND NET PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY (ANPP) IS CONSUMED BY LIVESTOCK ARE KEY DETERMINANTS OF RANGELAND HEALTH AND THE FUTURE SUSTAINABILITY OF LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION. HOWEVER, PARTICULARLY IN WESTERN U.S. RANGELANDS, ANPP IS HIGHLY VARIABLE ACROSS THE LANDSCAPE, FROM YEAR TO YEAR, AND WITHIN A GROWING SEASON. LANDOWNERS MUST THEREFORE UNDERSTAND THE EXTENT OF THIS VARIABILITY AND MAKE GRAZING MANAGEMENT DECISIONS THAT ACCOUNT FOR THESE DYNAMICS. IN ADDITION, CLIMATE CHANGE IS INCREASING VARIABILITY IN ANPP, MAKING IT IMPERATIVE TO FULLY UNDERSTAND THE PATTERNS AND TRENDS IN FORAGE AVAILABILITY WHEN MAKING GRAZING MANAGEMENT DECISIONS.MANY IN THE RANGE MANAGEMENT PROFESSION CONSIDER THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAND AREA AND NUMBER OF GRAZING ANIMALS--THE STOCKING RATE--TO BE A PRIMARY FACTOR THAT CAN BE CONTROLLED TO ACHIEVE BOTH RANGELAND HEALTH AND RANCH ECONOMIC GOALS. MANY FACTORS ALSO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF GRAZING ON A PLANT COMMUNITY, AND OTHER METRICS ARE ALSO IMPORTANT IN DECIDING WHEN, WHERE, AND HOW TO GRAZE. NEVERTHELESS, STOCKING RATEREMAINS A SIGNIFICANT DECISION, AND ESTIMATES OF FORAGE AVAILABILITY AND ITS SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABILITY UNDERLIE STOCKING RATE DECISIONS. YET MANAGERS' ACCESS TO DATA ON AVAILABLE FORAGE AND ITS SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABILITY IS LIMITED. FIELD ESTIMATES BASED ON CLIPPING VEGETATION ARE PRONE TO ERROR AND BIAS, AND LARGE ENOUGH SAMPLES TO CAPTURE VARIATIONS IN SPACE AND TIME ARE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO OBTAIN. AND THOUGH REMOTE SENSING DATA ON ANPP EXIST, OBTAINING, INTERPRETING, AND USING DATA SPECIFIC TO THE LANDS ONE MANAGES IS NOT STRAIGHTFORWARD. SUCH LIMITATIONS LEAD TO CHALLENGES IN LANDOWNERS' AND MANAGERS' EFFORTS TO ACCURATELY ESTIMATE GRAZING CAPACITY ON RANGELANDS UNDER THEIR CONTROL, TO TRACK AND MONITOR CHANGES IN THE VEGETATION UNDER A PARTICULAR SET OF MANAGEMENT DECISIONS, AND TO PREPARE FOR AND ADJUST THEIR MANAGEMENT AS FORAGE AVAILABILITY CHANGES WITH CLIMATE CHANGE. WE PROPOSE TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL THROUGH THREE OBJECTIVES: 1) DEVELOP A SPATIALLY-EXPLICIT, WEB-BASED DECISION SUPPORT TOOL (DST) THAT IMPORTS MULTIPLE SOURCES OF RANGELAND FORAGE PRODUCTION DATA FOR AN AREA OF INTEREST, ALLOWS THE USER TO DEFINE KEY FACTORS THAT DETERMINE RANGELAND ACCESSIBILITY, AND PRODUCES MAPS OF STOCKING RATE AND OTHER SYNTHETIC METRICS SHOWING VARIATION THROUGH THE GROWING SEASON AND FROM YEAR-TO-YEAR. 2) CONVENE AN ADVISORY GROUP OF RANGELAND OWNERS AND MANAGERS TO PROVIDE ACTIONABLE INPUT AND REAL-LIFE PILOT CASES TO TEST THE TOOL ON, ENSURING THAT THE DST PROVIDES RELEVANT AND ACTIONABLE INFORMATION NEEDED FOR IMPROVED GRAZING MANAGEMENT DECISIONS. 3) ENGAGE WITH EXTENSION AGENTS AND SPECIALISTS, PUBLIC LAND MANAGERS, AND OTHER RANGELAND ADVISORS THROUGH EXISTING COMMUNICATION NETWORKS TO BUILD AWARENESS, COLLECT VALUABLE FEEDBACK, AND ENCOURAGE EARLY ADOPTERS TO USE THE DST. THE ACCESS TO DATA CHARACTERIZING VARIATIONS IN FORAGE AVAILABILITY AND OTHER KEY FACTORS WILL IMPROVE PRIVATE LANDOWNERS' AND PUBLIC LAND MANAGERS' ABILITY TO (A) ENHANCE THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE NATION'S FORESTS AND RANGELANDS, (B) PROVIDE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND MARKET GOODS, (C) IMPROVE ECOLOGICAL AND OPERATIONAL RESILIENCE TO CLIMATE CHANGE, AND (D) SUPPORT RURAL LIVELIHOODS.
$100.0k 4/20/21