Progress 08/01/08 to 07/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: The primary target audiences for this project are ranchers, land managers and natural resource professionals in NW Colorado who could benefit from state and transition models as a management decision-making tool. Although participants in NW Colorado are the primary target audience, we implemented extension and outreach activities in several other regions in Colorado, and made outreach materials available through the web that will reach a much wider audience. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? This project provided major support for one PhD student (Emily Kachergis, PhD Ecology 2011) and two MS students (Windy Kelley, MS Rangeland Ecology 2010 and Willow Hibbs, MS Rangeland Ecology 2011), whose dissertation and theses were directly related to the project. In addition, several other graduate students were partially supported by the project funds or involved in project activities are part of their graduate training (Aleta Rudeen, MS Rangeland Ecology 2009; Hailey Wilmer, MS Rangeland Ecology expected 2013, Shayan Ghajar, MS Rangeland Ecology expected 2013, Jennifer Timmer, PhD Ecology expected 2016). In addition one undergraduate honors student, Kira Puntenney BS Watershed Science 2010, wrote her honors thesis on the project, and several other undergraduates gained field experience working with our team. In addition to their formal education supported by the project, these students were all able to attend and present their work at multiple professional and scientific meetings through the project support. All of the graduate students supported by this project obtained excellent positions in their chosen fields upon graduation. As reported under the accomplishment of goals, above, the outreach activities associated with this project have also included professional training workshops for extension personnel and NRCS staff specifically, and rangeland professionals more broadly. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Scientific results have been reported through peer-reviewed publications (10 published or accepted, 1 in review, 3 in preparation) and conference presentations, posters and invited seminars (38), as well as through periodic community meetings and emails to participating community members. Outreach activities have reached a broader audience through workshops within (6) and outside (2) of the project area, as well as state- and national-level professional training workshops (6), and fact sheets distributed to a regional audience via email. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The two broad goals of this project have been met. The first goal was met by creating S-T models for three common ecological sites in NW Colorado (claypan, mountain loam, and aspen woodlands), including quantification of selected ecosystem services associated with the states in each model. In addition to the models that were created (see Kachergis 2011, Kachergis et al. 2012), the S-T model creation process advanced the scientific development of these tools by incorporating ecological process indicators (Kachergis et al. 2011) and wildlife habitat metrics (Hibbs 2011) into the models, evaluating the consequences of defining vegetation states using different taxonomic levels (plant trait-based groups vs. species) (Kachergis et al. 2013), describing and evaluating S-T models based on different knowledge sources (Knapp and Fernandez-Gimenez 2009a and b, Knapp et al. 2010), and testing a participatory and interdisciplinary model development and integration process (Knapp et al. 2011, Kachergis et al. In Press Ecology and Society). The ecological S-T models were coupled with a ranch-scale economic model to create a coupled ecological-economic simulation model at the ranch scale, which allowed us to explore the short- and long-term economic and ecological consequences and trade-offs of different management scenarios (Ritten et al. 2011, 2012a, b and c). Goal two was met by creating an interactive simulation game based on our simulation model (Pritchett et al. 2012) which served as the basis for a series of outreach and professional training workshops geared to ranchers and other land managers as well as agency professionals and extension educators. In addition we published a series of 3 fact sheets and associated powerpoint presentations about S-T models which were distributed to a large number of producers and producer organizations, natural resource agencies and conservation organizations across several states in the region, as well as being posted on the Colorado Rangelands website. Based on our model development work we have also been invited to give several professional development workshop presentations on our interdisciplinary and participatory approach to model development. We have evaluated the effectiveness of individual workshops (Knapp et al. 2011, Pritchett et al. 2012) and found that the workshops and the simulation game are effective teaching and learning tools. The simulation game has been incorporated into our undergraduate curriculum at Colorado State University as part of a learning module on S-T models in RS425 Rangeland Measurements and Monitoring. At the inception of the project we also conducted a baseline mail survey of a random sample of ranchers and natural agency professionals in Colorado and Wyoming (Kelley 2010) to assess initial levels of awareness and use of S-T models. The survey was re-implemented with the same sample in winter 2013 in order to assess changes in S-T model knowledge and use. At this writing the analysis of the survey data is still underway. Although the number of surveyed ranchers actually using STMs remains very small at 5.6% of respondents, the proportion of respondents who use STMs had more than doubled from an initial 2% of respondents in the 2009 survey, and the proportion who had never heard of STMs declined from 69% to 64%. An important final outcome of this project was that the ranchers who participated in developing the STMs in this project were highly motivated to continue working with the project team on testing the models as an adaptive management tool. In addition, ranchers who participated in our outreach workshops in locations outside the project area in the Elkhead Watershed of Colorado were interested in developing models specific to ecological sites in their areas. This interest led the project team to pursue a follow-on project, funded by the NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant program, that will enable us to apply the participatory interdisciplinary model development process developed under our NIFA grant to 5 additional locations in Colorado and Wyoming, and to carry out demonstration adaptive management projects with ranchers at each of these sites that will test the utility of S-T models as adaptive management tools.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Kachergis, E., M. Rocca, and M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez. Submitted. Long-term vegetation change provides evidence for alternate states in silver sagebrush. Rangeland Ecology and Management.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Fernandez-Gimenez, M.E. 2013. Talking across fences: Social learning in adaptive management, invited symposium presentation, at the Society for Range Management annual meeting, February 2-8, 2013, Oklahoma City, OK.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Ghajar, S. and M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez. 2013. The internet, innovation, and the range: documenting ranchers' internet use and preferences. Poster presentation at the Society for Range Management annual meeting, February 2-8, 2013, Oklahoma City, OK.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Kachergis, E., M.E. Rocca and M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez. 2013. Comparing species and trait-based approaches for describing sagebrush steppe response to range management. Applied Vegetation Science 16:355-364.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Kachergis, E., C.N. Knapp, M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez, J.G. Pritchett, J. Parsons, J. Ritten, W. Hibbs, and R. Roath. (Accepted) Tools for resilience management: Multi-disciplinary development of state-and-transition models for northwest Colorado. Ecology and Society.
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Progress 08/01/11 to 07/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: This year we focused on outreach efforts to disseminate the fact sheets, presentations and teaching and outreach tools we developed, including an interactive ecological-economic ranch simulation game. Fact sheets were distributed electronically and in hard copy to over 400 natural resource professionals, producers and producer organizations around the region. We presented 4 full workshops where the fact sheets, presentations and interactive simulation game were used, and demonstrated the game at two other professional workshops or producer meetings. We evaluated the game and published an article on the use of our ranch simulation game as a teaching and learning tool. PARTICIPANTS: Participants who worked on this project include the PD , co-PDs, and collaborator Drs. Maria E. Fernandez-Gimenez, James Pritchett, Monique Rocca, Roy Roath and Jay Parsons (Colorado State University), Dr. John Ritten (University of Wyoming), former CSU graduate research assistants (GRAs) Emily Kachergis and Willow Hibbs, and GRAs Jacey Cerda and Shayan Ghajar. Dr. Fernandez-Gimenez oversees and coordinates the project and supervises GRAs Cerda and Ghajar. Dr. Ritten is developing the linked economic and ecological simulation model for the project, and assisted with the focus groups in Wyoming. Dr. Parsons, together with Dr. Pritchett, lead the development of the interactive simulation game and its use as an educational and outreach tool. Dr. Roath supervised GRA Hibbs and leads the effort to quantify wildlife habitat ecosystem services. Dr. Rocca co-advised GRA Kachergis and oversees the quantitative analyses for the data-driven STMs. GRA Kachergis conducted ecological field sampling and led the analysis of ecological field data. GRA Hibbs collected field data on vegetation structure and quantified wildlife habitat ecosystem services associated with states in the STM models. GRAs Cerda and Ghajar assisted with outreach and evaluation. Partner Organizations involved in the project include the USDA NRCS, the USDI Bureau of Land Management, the USDA Routt-Medicine Bow National Forests, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Routt County Extension, The Nature Conservancy, the Community Agriculture Alliance, and the Colorado Environmental Coalition. TARGET AUDIENCES: The primary target audiences for this project are ranchers, land managers and natural resource professionals in NW Colorado who could benefit from state and transition models as a management decision-making tool. Although participants in NW Colorado are the primary target audience, we expect to implement extension and outreach activities in several other regions in Colorado, and to make outreach materials available through the web that will reach a much wider audience. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
We incorporated wildlife habitat values into STMs for two structurally divergent ecological sites, claypan and mountain loam, and assessed differences in suitability of habitat within different states. States for both ecological sites included diverse, dense or eroded, and western wheatgrass. A native grassland state, associated with herbicide spraying, was also evaluated on the claypan ecological site. Forage, cover, and overall habitat models for sage-grouse breeding and mule deer fawning were developed using existing literature and a fuzzy logic knowledge representation and evaluation system. The resulting outputs were 0-1 scaled indices representing the relative suitability of habitat within each state, which were used to test three hypotheses: 1) diverse states have higher forage and overall habitat suitability than dense or eroded states, 2) there is no difference in overall habitat suitability between diverse and western wheatgrass states, and 3) the claypan diverse state has higher overall values than the native grassland state. All three hypotheses were supported, with one exception. On the mountain loam ecological site, the dense state provides higher cover values, but the diverse state provides higher forage values, resulting in no difference in the overall values for mule deer between these two states. Managing for small, interspersed patches of the dense state in areas that are not adjacent to adequate cover may increase overall habitat suitability for mule deer. The results of this approach indicate that managing a majority of the land on the evaluated sites for diverse or similar states increases habitat suitability for important life stages of mule deer and sage-grouse.
Publications
- Kachergis, E., M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez, and M. Rocca. 2012. Differences in plant species composition as evidence of alternate states in the sagebrush steppe. Rangeland Ecology and Management. 65(5):486-497.
- Pritchett, J., E. Kachergis, J. Parsons, M. Fernandez-Gimenez, and J. Ritten. 2012. Home on a transitioning range: A ranch simulation game demonstrating STMs. Rangelands 34(3):53-59.
- Kachergis, E., M.E. Rocca, and M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez. 2012. Long term vegetation change in California Park: Evidence for alternate states Oral presentation at the Society for Range Management annual meeting, January 31, 2012, Spokane, WA.
- Ritten, J., M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez, Emily Kachergis, and Willow Hibbs. 2012. A state-and-transition approach to evaluating trade-offs among ecosystem services. Poster presentation at the Society for Range Management annual meeting, January 31, 2012, Spokane, WA.
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Progress 08/01/10 to 07/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: This year we collected and analyzed additional longitudinal data to document and understand the drivers of changes over time in high-elevation sagebrush steppe communities. We analyzed habitat suitability determine the habitat values associated with different states in our state and transition models. In addition, we concentrated on refining our linked ecological and economic ranch simulation model and developing an interactive ranch simulation game, based on the linked model, to use as an outreach and teaching tool. Two graduate research assistants and one undergraduate research assistant were mentored through the project and one PhD student and one MS student successfully defended their theses and graduated with degrees in Rangeland Ecosystem Science. We refined and tested our fact sheets and powerpoint presentations about STMs. PARTICIPANTS: Participants who worked on this project include the PD , co-PDs, and collaborator Drs. Maria E. Fernandez-Gimenez, James Pritchett, Monique Rocca, Roy Roath and Jay Parsons (Colorado State University), Dr. John Ritten (University of Wyoming), CSU graduate research assistants (GRAs) Emily Kachergis and Willow Hibbs, and undergraduate research assistant (URA) Kira Puntenney. Dr. Fernandez-Gimenez oversees and coordinates the project and supervises 1 GRA. Dr. Ritten is developing the linked economic and ecological simulation model for the project, and assisted with the focus groups in Wyoming. Dr. Parsons, together with Dr. Pritchett, lead the development of the interactive simulation game and its use as an educational and outreach tool. Dr. Roath supervises GRA Hibbs and leads the effort to quantify wildlife habitat ecosystem services. Dr. Rocca co-advises GRA Kachergis and oversees the quantitative analyses for the data-driven STMs. GRA Kachergis conducts ecological field sampling, supervises 2 URAs, and leads the analysis of ecological field data. GRA Hibbs collected field data on vegetation structure and quantified wildlife habitat ecosystem services associated with states in the STM models. Partner Organizations involved in the project include the USDA NRCS, the USDI Bureau of Land Management, the USDA Routt-Medicine Bow National Forests, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Routt County Extension, The Nature Conservancy, the Community Agriculture Alliance, and the Colorado Environmental Coalition. TARGET AUDIENCES: The primary target audiences for this project are ranchers, land managers and natural resource professionals in NW Colorado who could benefit from state and transition models as a management decision-making tool. Although participants in NW Colorado are the primary target audience, we expect to implement extension and outreach activities in several other regions in Colorado, and to make outreach materials available through the web that will reach a much wider audience. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: The planned timing of our major outreach activities was delayed by 6-12 months due to a delay in the development of the interactive simulation game. The game is now completed and several outreach workshops have been scheduled for late 2011.
Impacts
Analysis of historic monitoring data at high-elevation sagebrush steppe sites revealed only weak evidence for alternate states on these ecological sites. Changes in species composition generally did not match patterns expected based on alternate state theory. Instead of sudden jumps, changes were small and gradual; furthermore, rather than experiencing persistent shifts, composition fluctuated through time. Two possible exceptions are 1) lack of recovery of the dominant forb Wyethia after spraying at the beginning of the time series, possibly indicating a shift from an overgrazed state and 2) the recent increase in the non-native grass Phleum. Long-term changes in species composition suggest that high-elevation sagebrush steppe experiences gradual changes in response to management rather than sudden shifts between alternate states. Regardless of whether this system exhibits alternate states, the long-term increase in the non-native pasture grass Phleum raises the question of whether gradual changes can still be irreversible. Results from the coupled ecological-economic ranch simulation model indicate that when livestock profitably is the only objective show very little incentive for producers to stock above NRCS recommendations. In fact, it is in producers' interest to understock rangelands more often than it is to overstock. It was never profitable to spray Claypan sites, and only profitable to spray Mountain Loam sites 33 perecent of the time. The model ranch is unable to provide adequate levels of all ecosystem services simultaneously, yet changes to optimal management decisions varied as the ranch was forced to meet critical levels of the alternative ecosystem services. The model was run with two separate penalties for not meeting the ecosystem service objectives. The first, moderate penalty, requires a landowner to lease alternative forage when ecosystem service levels fall below (above) critical thresholds. The second, extreme penalty, results in a shutdown of the ranch if ecosystem service objectives are not met. The level of penalty has a large impact on optimal decisions. For the moderate penalty scenario, four of the ecosystem services resulted in optimally stocking at the High level more often than for livestock alone, while only one ecosystem service optimally resulted in an increase in the occurrence of the Low stocking rate. For the extreme penalty all but three of the ecosystem services required an increase in the likelihood of Low stocking, while four ecosystem services required an increase in stocking High as compared to optimal livestock production. Our model ranch was unable to adequately provide all of the services we measured simultaneously. Depending on objectives and penalties, there are some ecosystem services which are well aligned with livestock production, implying that livestock production can coexist with the procurement of other ecosystem services. However, producers are not able to provide all of the other services in conjunction with each other, and must decide which service to provide.
Publications
- Kachergis, E. 2011. An Alternate State Approach to Range Management in the Sagebrush Steppe. PhD Dissertation. Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO.
- Hibbs, W.B. 2011. Assessing Wildlife Habitat Suitability for Ecological Sites and State and Transition Models. M.S. Thesis, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO.
- Ritten, J., M. Fernandez-Gimenez, E. Kachergis, W. Hibbs and J. Pritchett. 2011. Linked ecological and economic state and transition model for adaptive management of rangeland ecosystems. Oral presentation at the 2011 Joint Annual Meeting of the Canadian Agricultural Economics Society and the Western Agricultural Economics Association, June 30, 2011, Banff, Alberta, Canada.
- Ritten, J., E. Kachergis, M. Fernandez-Gimenez, W. Hibbs, J Pritchett. 2011. Do livestock and ecosystems services compete A state-and-transition approach. Oral presentation at the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, June 7, 2011, Madison, WI.
- Ritten, J., M. Fernandez-Gimenez, W. Hibbs, E. Kachergis, J. Pritchett, R. Roath, M. Rocca. A state and transition approach to adaptive management of rangeland ecosystems. Oral presentation at the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics Seminar Series, University of Wyoming, April 7, 2011, Laramie, WY.
- Kachergis, E., M. Rocca and M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez. 2011. Indicators of ecosystem function identify alternate states in the sagebrush steppe. Ecological Applications 21(7): 2781-2792.
- Kachergis, E., M.E. Rocca, and M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez. 2011. Comparison of species and trait-based approaches for describing sagebrush steppe response to range management. Oral presentation at the Ecological Society of America meeting, August 11, 2011, Austin, TX.
- Kachergis, E., M.E. Rocca and M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez. 2011. Using plant functional groups to identify alternate states. Oral presentation at the Society for Range Management annual meeting, February 9, 2011, Billings, MT.
- Puntenney, K., E. Kachergis, and M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez. 2011. Comparison of stream morphology and vegetation of cottonwood-dominated and open reaches within a riparian ecological site in NW Colorado. Poster presented at the Society for Range Management annual meeting, February 6-10, 2011, Billings, MT.
- Hibbs, W., E.Kachergis and J. Ritten. 2010. Managing rangelands for ecosystem services using state and transition models. Poster presentation at the Institute for Livestock and Environment Stakeholder Summer, December 2, 2010, Fort Collins, CO.
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Progress 08/01/09 to 07/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: In the second year of this project we further refined our ecological state and transition models (STMs) as input to the linked ranch model. First we developed transition probabilities for each of the transition using a Bayesian knowledge network approach combined with expert interviews. Second we quantified the selected ecosystem services associated with each state including habitat quality for 2 game and 1 non-game species, resistance to erosion, plant biodiversity, and invasion resistance. Third, we analyzed the relationship of states defined by plant community composition with ecosystem functions based on indicators of rangeland health. We completed analysis of our pre-project survey of ranchers and natural resource professionals to establish baseline pre-project levels of awareness, knowledge and use of STMs, and conducted 2 field workshops on ecological sites and STMs with local ranchers and other stakeholders. In addition, we presented the results of our work at three conferences, the CSU Institute for Livestock and Environment Stakeholder Summit, the Society for Range Management annual meeting, and the 16th Wildland Shrub Symposium. The linked ecological-economic ranch simulation model was parameterized using our STMs and associated field data, tested, and found to run soundly. Three graduate research assistants and one undergraduate research assistant were mentored through the project and one MS student successfully defended her MS thesis and graduated with a degree in Rangeland Ecosystem Science. We developed a series of fact sheets and powerpoint presentations about STMs for use in outreach workshops to distinct audiences of ranchers, natural resource professionals and conservationists. Finally, we participated in a trainer/advisor capacity in a train the trainer workshop on ecological site descriptions and STMs for NRCS specialists. PARTICIPANTS: Participants who worked on this project include the PD and co-PDs, Drs. Maria E. Fernandez-Gimenez, James Pritchett, Monique Rocca, and Roy Roath (Colorado State University), Dr. John Ritten (University of Wyoming), CSU graduate research assistants (GRAs) Emily Kachergis, Windy Kelley, Willow Hibbs, and Aleta Rudeen, and undergraduate research assistant (URA) Kira Puntenney. Dr. Fernandez-Gimenez oversees and coordinates the project and supervises 3 GRAs. Dr. Ritten is developing the linked economic and ecological simulation model for the project, and assisted with the focus groups in Wyoming. Dr. Ritten, together with Dr. Pritchett, lead the development of the interactive simulation game and its use as an educational and outreach tool. Dr. Roath supervises GRA Hibbs and leads the effort to quantify wildlife habitat ecosystem services. He will also participate in design and delivery of outreach and extension materials on STMs. Dr. Rocca co-advises GRA Kachergis and oversees the quantitative analyses for the data-driven STMs. GRA Kachergis conducts ecological field sampling, supervises 2 URAs, and leads the analysis of ecological field data. GRA Kelley conducted the focus groups with the assistance from URA Carroll and worked on the design and implementation of the mail survey. GRA Hibbs collected field data on vegetation structure and will quantify wildlife habitat ecosystem services associated with states in the STM models. Partner Organizations involved in the project include the USDA NRCS, the USDI Bureau of Land Management, the USDA Routt-Medicine Bow National Forests, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Routt County Extension, The Nature Conservancy, the Community Agriculture Alliance, and the Colorado Environmental Coalition. Representatives of these organizations participated in the field workshops and provided feedbacks on the draft fact sheets. The Nature Conservancy provided significant in-kind support by allowing the field crew to lodge at The Carpenter Ranch at no cost, and providing meeting space for workshops. The BLM and USDA Forest Service have provided past monitoring data and access to their lands for ecological sampling. Routt County Extension has assisted in gaining community support for and participation in the project. Many local landowners and ranchers in NW Colorado are vital collaborators in this project. We have sampled on private land of 15 landowners. Ranchers, agency staff, and community members who participated in the 2 field workshops. TARGET AUDIENCES: The primary target audiences for this project are ranchers, land managers and natural resource professionals in NW Colorado who could benefit from state and transition models as a management decision-making tool. Although participants in NW Colorado are the primary target audience, we expect to implement extension and outreach activities in several other regions in Colorado, and to make outreach materials available through the web that will reach a much wider audience. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Analysis of the relationship between vegetation states defined by plant community composition and ecosystem function indicators revealed that indicators of rangeland health (IRH) were related to species composition-defined states, providing evidence for the existence of alternate states. We found that IRH provided a quick and efficient way to incorporate ecosystem processes into STM model development and thus improve the models. We also found that environmental variation within ecological sites (e.g. slope) is associated with vulnerability of sites to transition to certain states (e.g. an eroding sagebrush state), especially when ecological sites are more heterogeneous. Analysis of our survey data revealed that while about 30% of natural resource professionals overall had heard about, read or used STMs, only a tiny fraction of ranchers were aware of or had read or used STMs, suggesting that extensive outreach efforts are needed to promote understanding and adoption of this tool by the target audience. Initial runs of our linked ecological and economic ranch simulation model show that there are trade-offs between managing for forage production alone and managing for other suites of ecosystem services. Some services can be simultaneously optimized but the model shows that it is not possible to simultaneously optimize all 6 of our selected ecosystem services.
Publications
- Kelley, W. 2010. Rangeland managers awareness of state and transition models, management of Bromus tectorum, and ranchers adoption of innovations: A survey of ranchers and natural resource professionals in Wyoming and Colorado. M.S. Thesis, Colorado State University, Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship.
- Knapp, C.N., M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez, E. Kachergis and A. Rudeen. 2011 (In Press). Using participatory workshops to integrate state-and-transition models created with local knowledge and ecological data. Rangeland Ecology and Management.
- Knapp, C.N., M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez and E. Kachergis. 2010 (In Press). The role of local knowledge in state and transition model development. Rangelands.
- Bestelmeyer, B.T., K. Moseley, P.L. Shaver, H.Sanchez, D. D. Briske, and M. E. Fernandez-Gimenez. 2010 (In Press). Practical guide for developing state and transition models. Rangelands.
- Kachergis, E., M. Rocca and M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez. 2010. Inferences about ecological process in data-driven state and transition models through comparison of plant species composition and indicators of rangeland health. Abstract of Oral Presentation at the Society for Range Management annual meeting, February 7-11, 2010, Denver, Colorado.
- Knapp, C.N., M. Fernandez-Gimenez, A. Rudeen, and E. Kachergis. 2010. Community-based integration of local knowledge and data-driven state and transition models. Abstract of poster presented at the Society for Range Management annual meeting, February 7-11, 2010, Denver, Colorado.
- Kelley, W., M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez, C. Brown, and P. Meimen. 2010. Ranchers perceptions of state and transition models. Abstract of poster presented at the Society for Range Management annual meeting, February 7-11, 2010, Denver, Colorado.
- Puntenney, K., E. Kachergis, and M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez. 2010. Proposed classification system for riparian ecological sites in Northwest Colorado. Abstract of poster presented at the Society for Range Management annual meeting, February 7-11, 2010, Denver, Colorado.
- Fernandez-Gimenez, M.E., W. Hibbs, E. Kachergis, W. Kelley, J. Pritchett, K. Puntenny, J. Ritten, R. Roath, M. Rocca, A. Rudeen, and R. Wattles. 2009. Linking Ecological and Economic State-and-Transition Models for Adaptive Management of Rangeland Ecosystems. Abstract of poster presented at the Institute for Livestock and Environment Stakeholder Summit, December 2009.
- Kachergis, E., M.E. Rocca, and M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez.2009.Describing ecosystem shifts in aspen rangelands using data-driven state-and-transition models. Abstract of poster presented at the Institute for Livestock and the Environment Stakeholder Summit, December 2009.
- Kachergis, E., M.E. Rocca and M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez.2010.Are indicators of ecological processes related to vegetation states in data-driven state and transition models Abstract of oral presentation at the 16th Wildland Shrub Symposium, Logan, UT, May 2010.
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Progress 08/01/08 to 07/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: In the first year of our project we completed a final season of ecological field sampling to collect additional soil and plant data for construction of the ecological data-driven state and transition models (STMs). Field data have been analyzed and draft data-driven STMs developed for our three target ecological sites. We also constructed and parameterized the base ranch economic model for our linked ecological and economic model, and validated our model ranch characteristics with local ranchers. We organized 2 community meetings to inform and obtain input from area ranchers and agency stakeholders, 2 workshops to evaluate and integrate local knowledge and ecological data-driven STMs, and 1 field tour to field-validate the draft STMs. We also conducted 6 focus groups with ranchers and natural resource agency professionals and distributed a mail survey to 1200 ranchers and 500 natural resource agency professionals in Colorado and Wyoming to assess baseline before-project levels of awareness, knowledge, and use of STMs in the target populations. Products from this work include the 3 draft data-driven models, 2 draft integrated models that combine local knowledge and ecological field data, and outreach presentations and associated handouts that educate target audiences about ecological site and STM concepts. Our local Extension collaborator in Routt County produced and aired a 2-minute radio spot on our project that explained STMs to a broad listening audience, and encouraged community members to get involved in the project. Each of the data-driven models has been presented at one or more scientific meetings in poster presentations. PARTICIPANTS: Participants who worked on this project include the PD and co-PDs, Drs. Maria E. Fernandez-Gimenez, James Pritchett, Monique Rocca, and Roy Roath (Colorado State University), Dr. John Ritten (University of Wyoming), CSU graduate research assistants (GRAs) Emily Kachergis, Windy Kelley, Willow Hibbs, and Aleta Rudeen, and undergraduate research assistants (URAs) Kira Puntenney, Ryan Wattles, and Adam Carroll. Dr. Fernandez-Gimenez oversees and coordinates the project and supervises 3 GRAs. Dr. Ritten is developing the linked economic and ecological simulation model for the project, and assisted with the focus groups in Wyoming. Dr. Ritten, together with Dr. Pritchett, lead the development of the interactive simulation game and its use as an educational and outreach tool. Dr. Roath supervises GRA Hibbs and leads the effort to quantify wildlife habitat ecosystem services. He will also participate in design and delivery of outreach and extension materials on STMs. Dr. Rocca co-advises GRA Kachergis and oversees the quantitative analyses for the data-driven STMs. GRA Kachergis conducts ecological field sampling, supervises 2 URAs, and leads the analysis of ecological field data. GRA Kelley conducted the focus groups with the assistance from URA Carroll and worked on the design and implementation of the mail survey. GRA Rudeen designed and facilitated the model evaluation and integration workshop with assistance from Carroll, Kachergis, and Fernandez-Gimenez. GRA Hibbs collected field data on vegetation structure and will quantify wildlife habitat ecosystem services associated with states in the STM models. Partner Organizations involved in the project include the USDA NRCS, the USDI Bureau of Land Management, the USDA Routt-Medicine Bow National Forests, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Routt County Extension, The Nature Conservancy, the Community Agriculture Alliance, and the Colorado Environmental Coalition. Representatives of these organizations participated in community meetings, workshops and/or the field validation of the draft STMs. The Nature Conservancy provided significant in-kind support by allowing the field crew to lodge at The Carpenter Ranch at no cost, and providing meeting space for community meetings and workshops. The BLM and USDA Forest Service have provided past monitoring data and access to their lands for ecological sampling. Routt County Extension has assisted in gaining community support for and participation in the project and provided outreach opportunities such as a local radio spot. Many local landowners and ranchers in NW Colorado are vital collaborators in this project. We have sampled on private land of 15 landowners. These and other local ranchers have been active participants in community meetings and workshops, helping to parameterize the base ranch economic model, provide input and feedback on project research and outreach objectives, and feedback on the draft STM models. Ranchers, agency staff, and community members who participated in the 2 modeling workshops collaboratively developed integrated STMs that drew on both local knowledge and ecological field data. TARGET AUDIENCES: The primary target audiences for this project are ranchers, land managers and natural resource professionals in NW Colorado who could benefit from state and transition models as a management decision-making tool. Although participants in NW Colorado are the primary target audience, we expect to implement extension and outreach activities in several other regions in Colorado, and to make outreach materials available through the web that will reach a much wider audience. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The primary impacts in the first year of the project have included the following: 1) we have developed procedures for creating data-driven STMs and integrating data-driven STMs with expert and local knowledge, 2) our target audiences, local ranchers and managers, have increased their awareness and understanding of STMs, and 3) local landowners have increased their participation and interest in the project.
Publications
- Kachergis, E., M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez and M. Rocca. 2009. Describing ecosystem shifts in aspen rangelands with data-driven state and transition models. Poster presented at Routt-Medicine Bow National Forests Research Conference, March 2009, Laramie, WY.
- Kachergis, E., M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez and M. Rocca. 2008. Describing ecosystem shifts with data driven state and transition models in Northwest Colorado. Poster presented at the Ecological Society of America annual meeting, August 3-8, 2008, Milwaukee, WI.
- Kachergis, E., M.E. Fernandez-Gimenez and M. Rocca. 2009. Describing ecosystem shifts with data-driven state and transition models. Poster presented at the Society for Range Management annual meeting, February 8-12, 2009, Albuquerque, NM.
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