Source: OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to
CONSERVATION OF RANGELANDS AND WILDLIFE ON A CHANGING LANDSCAPE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1004962
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
OKL02954
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Nov 19, 2014
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2019
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
Fuhlendorf, SA, D..
Recipient Organization
OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
STILLWATER,OK 74078
Performing Department
Natural Resource Ecology & Management
Non Technical Summary
In a recent paper, we outlined the history of conservation that is relevant to rangelands and the wildlife that are native to Oklahoma landscapes (Fuhlendorf et al. 2012). Conservation of natural resources has been described as progressing through three sequential paradigms (Callicott 1990; Weddell 2002). The first was the utilitarian paradigm, which was largely based on conservation to maintain long-term and sustainable production with the objective of providing the most benefit for society in general (Pinchot 1947). Second, the protectionist paradigm focused on protecting natural resources from humans and emerging from ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and John Muir. The third paradigm, ecosystem management, emphasizes conservation of processes and interrelatedness of parts by maintaining processes (grazing, fire, water cycling, nutrient cycling etc.) with the objective of ultimately maintaining the full suite of biodiversity (Leopold 1949). Many attribute the ecosystem management paradigm to Aldo Leopold, who developed it to counter a land management system that he viewed as exploitive and without science at its core. While rangelands have benefited from conservation based on all three of the paradigms, the rangeland management profession developed largely under the utilitarian paradigm with the primary long-term goals of sustainable forage for livestock production and conserving production potential by minimizing soil erosion. Optimizing for all ecosystem services, while mentioned even early in the range profession history, has had limited application on large landscapes.Under the utilitarian paradigm, livestock grazing and wildlife have often been viewed as competing rather than complementary (Stoddart et al. 1975, pages 356-357), and grazing has been viewed more as a land-use than as a process that promotes a pattern that is essential to ecosystem structure and function. In a similar way, the essential role of fire as an ecosystem process with importance equal to climate and soil (Axelrod 1985; Pyne 1991; Bond and van Wilgen1996; Bond and Keeley 2005) has been replaced with the view that fire is merely a vegetation management tool (one among many other tools) applied to primarily benefit livestock production. This difference in how grazing and fire are viewed is not trivial if ecosystem services are important rangeland management goals. Viewing fire or grazing as tools interchangeable with herbicides and mechanical methods (e.g. Riggs et al. 1996; Scifres 2004) ignores the historical and ecological significance of these processes to biodiversity and patterns inherent to rangelands (West 1993).Concomitant to development of the conservation paradigm, the science of ecology has progressed from studies that rely on many replications of small plots to studies that emphasize pattern and process at multiple temporal and spatial scales. Watt (1947) and later Turner (1989) connected pattern to process, which led to landscape ecology as a discipline that has increased scientific attention to heterogeneity. In spite of these developments, rangeland management and research have failed generally to recognize the importance of scale and heterogeneity to biodiversity and ecological processes (Fuhlendorf and Smeins 1996; 1999; Briske et al. 2003). Increased interest in biodiversity conservation and the role of scale and heterogeneity are indications that traditional approaches to the science and management of rangelands may be inadequate to effectively embrace multiple uses at sufficient scales to meet society's expectations. Additionally this advancement in science and technology allows us to evaluate rangelands from large-scale perspectives and address important topics like the fragmentation and development of rangelands for energy production.In a recent paper (Fuhlendorf et al. 2012), we argued that a conservation of pattern and process paradigm is a rational alternative to the utilitarian paradigm for conservation and management of natural resources. While a conservation-based paradigm is neither novel nor entirely counter to the historical underpinnings of agriculture on rangelands (see Rumburg 1996), but if rangelands are to fully meet the expectations of society, it will require fundamental and substantial change in the principles of our discipline and ultimately to the application of management at the landscape level. By focusing on soil protection and plant species composition as the primary indicators of rangeland condition to the exclusion of processes and life forms other than vascular plants impedes our profession's development and the profession's ability to meet society's values placed on rangeland ecosystem services. The paradigm of conservation of pattern and process broadly includes conservation of all species and life forms, habitat structures, and processes across complex landscapes.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
12107991070100%
Knowledge Area
121 - Management of Range Resources;

Subject Of Investigation
0799 - Rangelands and grasslands, general;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;
Goals / Objectives
We have developed objectives that will evaluate the relative importance of several of the principles over the next several years. We will use a combination of studies focused on multiple spatial and temporal scales and focused on landscapes, vegetation, fire and wildlife. Specific objectives include:Evaluate the response of economically and ecologically important wildlife populations to heterogeneous landscapes as influenced by agricultural management, fire, energy development and global change.Evaluate vegetation responses as fuel for fires, forage for livestock and habitat for important wildlife populations to agricultural management, fire, energy development and global change.
Project Methods
We will use existing experiments on OSU experiment station properties, ODWC Wildlife Management Areas, The Nature Conservancy's Tallgrass Prairie Preserve and other sites to evaluate innovative management approaches that can integrate land management for conservation and economic development for agriculture and the energy development industry. Specific experiments that will be conducted include the following.We have developed unique experiments to address the role of heterogeneity from agricultural management at scales that are relevant to ranches and private land holdings in the Great Plains and beyond (pastures> 500 ha, research area > 4000 ha). We have established replicated grazing-fire treatments at the Nature Conservancy's Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, and the Stillwater Research Range. We will combine this study with new studies at the Beaver River and Packsaddle Wildlife management areas to evaluate fire and grazing effects on Northern bobwhite quail and lesser and greater prairie-chickens. We will sample vegetation as fuel and habitat and monitor wildlife populations. We will be able to determine population and habitat dynamics of these important landscape management activities.We will evaluate the influence of landscape conversion through cultivation, energy development and grassland transformation from woody plant invasion on critical wildlife populations. Population dynamics of Lesser prairie-chickens, greater prairie-chickens and northern bobwhite quail will be monitored on multiple landscapes throughout Oklahoma. Maps will be developed indicating land use/cover change and energy development so that relationships can be established with movement patterns and population dynamics of these and other wildlife species.We will establish a landscape-level experimental treatment and sampling approach replicated across 6 sites in the southern Great Plains (Figure 2). Patch-burning treatments will be conducted at each site to create a spatially and temporally variable mosaic of patch types across the landscape. Four patches will be sampled at each site that differ in time-since-fire by one year so that we fully sample the 4-year fire return interval used at these sites. In each patch, we will randomly establish 8 transects, each 25-m long to quantify habitat structure, forage, and fuel properties. This will result in the establishment and sampling of 192 transects across all sites (8 transects per patch x 4 patches per site x 6 sites). Transects will be sampled every year for three years. These data will be used to test hypotheses associated with differences occurring among patches that differ in time-since-fire (Hypothesis 1; p. 3).We will quantify key components of habitat structure, forage abundance, and fuelbed characteristics along each 25-m transect within each time-since-fire patch. Field sampling of prairie chicken habitat will follow established protocols from the literature and will quantify variables that are important to both structural and dietary requirements of prairie-chickens. Measures of habitat structure will include shrub height, shrub cover, grass height, grass cover, and visual obstruction. Dietary resources will include measures of forb and insect abundances. Shrub height and shrub cover will be measured using the line-intercept method. Visual obstruction measurements will follow the protocol established by Robel (1970). Grass height, grass cover, forb height, and forb cover will be measured in five randomly located 50-cm x 20-cm quadrats along each transect.

Progress 11/19/14 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience includes private ranchers, conservationists, and land managers, as well as scientists, natural resources, and agricultural agencies of Oklahoma and the United States. Collectively, this work has led to the development of a working group that meets annually and this year met in Kansas. This Patch Burn Grazing working group includes ranchers, employees from state and federal agencies, and university representatives from 11 states. Our work has received additional funding from state and federal agencies. This work also has been integral to the Lesser Prairie Chicken Initiative through the NRCS. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The patch-burn working group continues to meet annually and met again this year in Texas. It is a group of researchers and managers that meets once a year to determine progress and challenges associated with their efforts. This working group was put together based on the seminal research connected to this project and includes representatives from Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Texas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, and other areas. We conducted extension workshops to educate professionals on rangeland management appropriate for wildlife conservation for USDA_NRCS and WAFWA. This project contributed to my personal development by continuing to get me invited to give presentations and interact with people from many different communities. The latest is a strong interest in many western states where this research is being applied to government and private land on diverse rangelands of the US. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We continue to publish articles in peer-reviewed journals. Articles have been written about our work in International and other more regional outlets. Our extension partners continue to develop outreach material that are based on this research What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Our previous work (Fuhlendorf et al. 2012) argued that natural resource science and management should embrace a broader conservation perspective using biodiversity and ecosystem processes as primary guiding principles while recognizing that livestock production, a service that results from healthy rangelands, will not be the primary driving factor in management decisions. Therefore, we are following hypothetical principles of rangeland conservation of pattern and process. We recognize that these principles need to be tested and we do not consider them to be exhaustive. Instead, I am using these principles to serve as an initial starting place for developing a research program capable of leading to a new conservation paradigm for rangelands. The principles that we tested include the following 1. Maintenance of large continuous tracts of rangelands is critical for the conservation of patterns and processes so that disturbance processes can interact with complex landscapes and form multi-scaled mosaics. 2. Grazing intensity (i.e. stocking rate) is the primary factor influencing the effect of grazing on rangeland, but no single grazing intensity is "proper". 3. Obtaining uniform distribution of grazing in time and space across a landscape is neither possible nor desirable. Managing grazing distribution for heterogeneity as a shifting mosaic across the landscape should be the goal. 4. Shifting mosaics are necessary for maintaining ecosystem structure and function and achieving multiple objectives. Managing for a single condition, state, phase, or successional stage might maximize and sustain livestock production, but will not be capable of promoting biodiversity or multiple uses. 5. The conservation of rangelands ultimately should consider all species of animals and plants. Individual species and groups can be used as diagnostic indicators of response to management, but plants and animals should not be considered "sacrifice species" or "management objectives" across an entire landscape. 6. Disturbance regimes, such as fire and grazing, are as vital to ecosystem structure and function as climate and soils. They must be viewed as interactive processes if we are to have any hope of maintaining biodiversity. From these proposed principles and subsequent publications we have developed several principles that should be applied for rangeland conservation. We have used a combination of studies focused on multiple spatial and temporal scales and focused on landscapes, vegetation, fire, and wildlife. Specifically we found that (1) economically and ecologically important wildlife populations can be maintained on heterogeneous landscapes and these populations can be maintained by applying spatially variable fire and grazing to large landscapes that are unfragmented. And, (2) wildlife habitat, livestock production, fuels management, and brush control can all be simultaneously enhanced through the use of spatially and temporally variable fire and grazing management. Our results suggest that rangelands can be managed for livestock production and with appropriate efforts the fire-grazing interaction can lead to improved biodiversity, ecosystem function, livestock production, and fuels management. Several of our studies include the impacts of energy development and land management on lesser and greater prairie-chickens and bobwhite quail and the integration of fuels management and wildlife management on complex landscapes. The greatest challenge in accomplishing this is that agricultural education and agricultural culture have promoted homogeneity in land management that is counter to conservation practices and many landscapes are experiencing energy development that resembles industrialization of agricultural landscapes. We acquired grants from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and continue to work on grants through The Nature Conservancy, Natural Resource Conservation Service, and the National Science Foundation. We completed a project on the effect of energy development on Lesser prairie-chickens, grazing and fire on Greater prairie-chickens, and several other projects on the management of bobwhite quail. We completed a project on coyote behavior in response to livestock management, prescribed fires, and energy development. We also completed a funded by joint-fire sciences that was focused on using grazing and prescribed fires to manage fuels that limit wildfire and maintain wildlife habitat. Since January 1, 2016 we have published 64 peer-reviewed publications and many local, regional, and national presentations.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kauffman, K., R.D. Elmore, C.A. Davis, S.D. Fuhlendorf, and L. Goodman. 2019. Multi-scale thermal selection of nesting scaled quail. The Wildlife Society & American Fisheries Society Joint Annual Conference. Reno, Nevada, USA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kauffman, K., R.D. Elmore, C.A. Davis, S.D. Fuhlendorf, and L. Goodman. 2019. Thermal ecology and habitat selection of scaled quail. Oklahoma Natural Resources Conference. Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Tanner, EP, J Polo, SD Fuhlendorf. 2019. Quantifying spatio-temporal variability in thermal landscapes through a fiber optic distributed temperature sensing system: implicaitons for thermal ecology research. Joint Annual Meeting of the Arizona and New Mexico Wildlife Society Meeting.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: HD Starns, SD Fuhlendorf, RD Elmore, D Twidwell, ET Thacker, TJ Hovick, B Luttbeg. Recoupling fire and grazing reduces wildland fuel loads on rangelands. Ecosphere 10 (1), e02578.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Wonkka,CL, D Twidwell, BW Allred, CH Bielski, VM Donovan, CP Roberts, SD Fuhlendorf. 2019. Rangeland vulnerability to state transition under global climate change. Climatic Change 153 (1-2), 59-78
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Carroll JM, RD Elmore, CA Davis, SD Fuhlendorf 2019. Propagation of Shinnery Oak as a Framework for Restoration. Rangeland Ecology and management 72 632-634.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: CA Duquette, CA Davis, SD Fuhlendorf, RD Elmore. 2019. Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) space use minimally affected by oil and gas development. Rangeland Ecology & Management 72 (3), 484-491
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Londe, DW, SD Fuhlendorf, RD Elmore, CA Davis. 2019. Landscape heterogeneity influences the response of grassland birds to energy development. Wildlife Biology 2019
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: CA Duquette, CA Davis, SD Fuhlendorf, RD Elmore. 2019. Associations between oil and gas wells and arthropod and vegetation communities in the Southern Plains. Rangeland Ecology & Management 72: 749-756.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Twidwell, D, CL Wonkka, H Wang, WE Grant, CR Allen, SD Fuhlendorf, AS Garmestani, DG Angeler, CA Taylor Jr, UP Kreuter, WE Rogers. 2019. Coerced resilience in fire management. Journal of Environmental Management. 240: 368-373.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Tanner, EP, JP Orange, CA Davis, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf. 2019. Behavioral modifications lead to disparate demographic consequences in two sympatric species. Ecology and evolution 9 (16), 9273-9289.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Fuhlendorf, SD, 2019. Saving Graze: Forage or fuel and other paradoxes of conservation. Natural History. 127, 14-16.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Joshi, O, NC Poudyal, JR Weir, SD Fuhlendorf, TO Ochuodho. 2019. Determinants of perceived risk and liability concerns associate with prescribed burning in the United States. Journal of Environmental Management 230: 379-385.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Rakowski AE, RD Elmore, CA.Davis, SD.Fuhlendorf. M Carroll. 2019. Thermal refuge affects space use and movement of a large-bodied galliform. Journal of Thermal Biology https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2018.12.024
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Londe, DW, SD Fuhlendorf, RD Elmore, CA Davis, J Rutledge. 2019. Female Greater Prairie?Chicken response to energy development and rangeland management. Ecosphere 10(12) e002982.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Tanner, AM, EP Tanner, M Pape?, SD Fuhlendorf, RD Elmore, CA Davis. 2019. Using aerial surveys and citizen science to create species distribution models for an imperiled grouse. Biodiversity and Conservation, 1-20.


Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience includes private ranchers, conservationist and land managers, as well as scientists, natural resource and agricultural agencies of Oklahoma and the United States. Collectively, this work has led to the development of a working group that meets annually and this year met in Colorado. This Patch Burn Grazing working group includes ranchers, employees from state and federal agencies, and university representatives from 11 states. Our work has received additional funding from state and federal agencies. This work also has been integral to the Lesser Prairie Chicken Initiative through the NRCS. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The patch-burn working group met again this year in Colorado. It is a group of researchers and managers that meet once a year to determine progress and challenges associated with their efforts. This working group was put together based on the seminal research connected to this project and includes representatives from Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Texas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and other areas. We put on extension workshops to educate professionals on rangeland management appropriate for wildlife conservation. I participated in workshops on wildfires, a Grassland Summit and a Fire Summit. This project contributes to my personal development by continuing to get me invited to give presentations and interact with people from many different communities. Currently, our research in Oklahoma is being applied through the Great Plains. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We continue to publish articles in peer-reviewed journals. Articles have been written about our work in International and other more regional outlets. Our extension partners continue to develop outreach material that are based on this research What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are starting up 3 graduate students on a new bobwhite quail study funded by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation to integrate land management for livestock production and for wildlife management. The focus of this project will be trying to optimize woody plant potential for both objectives. We have also recently received support for a Ph.D. student that will be initiating research on managing fire and invasive species for livestock management and biodiversity.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Our appeal presented in previous work is that natural resource science and management should embrace a broader conservation perspective using biodiversity and ecosystem processes as primary guiding principles (Figure 1; Table 1; Fuhlendorf et al. 2012) while recognizing that livestock production, a service that results from healthy rangelands, will not be the primary driving factor in all management decisions. Therefore, we are following hypothetical principles of rangeland conservation of pattern and process. We recognize that these principles need to be tested and we do not consider them to be exhaustive. Instead, I am using these principles to serve as an initial starting place for developing a research program capable of leading to a new conservation paradigm for rangelands. The principles we are testing include the following 1.Maintenance of large continuous tracts of rangelands is critical for conservation of patterns and processes so that disturbance processes can interact with complex landscapes and form multi-scaled mosaics. 2 .Grazing intensity (i.e. stocking rate) is the primary factor influencing the effect of grazing on rangeland, but no single grazing intensity is "proper". 3.Obtaining uniform distribution of grazing in time and space across a landscape is neither possible nor desirable. Managing grazing distribution for heterogeneity as a shifting mosaic across the landscape should be the goal. 4. Shifting mosaics are necessary for maintaining ecosystem structure and function and achieving multiple objectives. Managing for a single condition, state, phase, or successional stage might maximize and sustain livestock production, but will not be capable of promoting biodiversity or multiple uses. 5. Conservation of rangelands ultimately should consider all species of animals and plants. Individual species and groups can be used as diagnostic indicators of response to management, but plants and animals should not be considered "sacrifice species" or "management objectives" across an entire landscape. 6. Disturbance regimes, such as fire and grazing, are as vital to ecosystem structure and function as climate and soils. They must be viewed as interactive processes if we are to have any hope of maintaining biodiversity. From these proposed principles I have developed several objectives that will evaluate the relative importance of several of the principles over the next several years. I will use a combination of studies focused on multiple spatial and temporal scales and focused on landscapes, vegetation, fire, and wildlife. Specific objectives that I am currently working on include: 1. Evaluate the response of economically and ecologically important wildlife populations to heterogeneous landscapes as influenced by agricultural management, fire, energy development, and global change. 2. Evaluate vegetation responses as fuel for fires, forage for livestock and habitat for important wildlife populations to agricultural management, fire, energy development, and global change. Our results suggest that rangelands can be managed for livestock production and with appropriate efforts, the fire-grazing interaction can lead to improved biodiversity, ecosystem function, livestock production, and fuels management. Current studies include the impacts of energy development and land management on lesser and greater prairie-chickens and bobwhite quail and the integration of fuels management and wildlife management on complex landscapes. All of these projects include graduate students that are in various phases of completion. The greatest challenge in accomplishing this is that the agricultural education and agricultural culture have promoted homogeneity in land management that is counter to conservation practices and many landscapes are experiencing energy development that resembles industrialization of agricultural landscapes. We acquired grants from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and continue to work on grants through The Nature Conservancy, Natural Resource Conservation Service, and the National Science Foundation. We completed a project on the effect of energy development on Lesser prairie-chickens, grazing and fire on Greater prairie-chickens and several other projects on the management of bobwhite quail. We have recently completed projects on coyote behavior in response to livestock management, prescribed fires, and energy development, landscape fragmentation effects of large scale movements of wildlife and a joint-fire sciences funded project on using grazing and prescribed fires to manage fuels that limit wildfire and maintain wildlife habitat. Accomplishments over the past year include 15 peer-reviewed publications, outreach to the Natural Resource Conservation Service and Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, completion of several graduate students and acquisition of money to perform this research. Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and The Nature Conservancy are using our research to manage their wildlife management areas and preserves throughout the state. Many landowners have initiated our management. Specifically, a group of land-owners equaling over 200,000 acres in Osage County have applied our approaches.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Fuhlendorf, SD. 2018. The role of fire in grassland landscapes. Great Plains Grassland Summit: Challenges and Opportunities from North to South. April 10, 2018. Denver, Colorado.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2018 Citation: Fuhlendorf, SD. 2018. Socio-ecological transformation of the Great Plains through Juniperus Invasion. Symposium: Native plants as invaders. Society for Range Management Annual Meeting, Reno Nevada, USA. January 29, 2018.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Tanner, EP, SD Fuhlendorf. 2018. Impact of an agri-environmental scheme on landscape patterns. Ecological Indicators 85, 956-965
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Fogarty, DT, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf, SR Loss. 2018. Variation and drivers of airflow patterns associated with olfactory concealment and habitat selection. Ecology 99: 289-299.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Leverkus, SER, SD Fuhlendorf, M Geertsema, BW Allred, M Gregory, AR Bevington, DM Engle, JD Scasta. 2018. Resource selection of free-ranging horses influenced by fire in northern Canada. HumanWildlife Interactions 12 (1), 10-18
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: R Scholtz, JA Polo, SD Fuhlendorf, DM Engle, JR Weir. 2018. Woody Plant Encroachment Mitigated Differentially by Fire and Herbicide. Rangeland Ecology & Management 71 (2), 239-244.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: S Sharma, TE Ochsner, D Twidwell, JD Carlson, ES Krueger, DM Engle, SD Fuhlendorf. 2018. Nondestructive Estimation of Standing Crop and Fuel Moisture Content in Tallgrass Prairie. Rangeland Ecology & Management 71 (3), 356-362
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: RL Carroll, CA Davis, SD Fuhlendorf, RD Elmore, SE DuRant, JM Carroll. 2018. Avian parental behavior and nest success influenced by temperature fluctuations. Journal of thermal biology 74, 140-148
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: DA McGranahan, TJ Hovick, RD Elmore, DM Engle, SD Fuhlendorf. 2018. Moderate patchiness optimizes heterogeneity, stability, and beta diversity in mesic grassland. Ecology and evolution 8 (10), 5008-5015
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: CH Bielski, D Twidwell, SD Fuhlendorf, CL Wonkka, BW Allred, TE Ochsner, ES Krueger, JD Carlson, DM Engle. 2018. Pyric herbivory, scales of heterogeneity and drought. Functional Ecology 6: 1599-1608
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: R Scholtz, SD Fuhlendorf, SA Leis, JJ Picotte, D Twidwell. 2018. Quantifying variance across spatial scales as part of fire regime classifications Ecosphere 9 (7), e02343
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Fuhlendorf, SD, CA Davis, RD Elmore, LE Goodman, RG Hamilton. 2018. Perspectives on grassland conservation efforts: should we rewild to the past or conserve to the future. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B, Biological Sciences https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0438
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Scholtz, R, JA Polo, EP Tanner, SD Fuhlendorf. 2018. Grassland fragmentation and its influence on woody plant cover in the southern Great Plains, USA. Landscape Ecology 33: 1785-1797.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: BP Wilcox, A Birt, SD Fuhlendorf, SR Archer. 2018. Emerging frameworks for understanding and mitigating woody plant encroachment in grassy biomes. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 32: 46-52
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Wilcox, BP, A Birt, SR Archer, SD Fuhlendorf, UP Kreuter, MG Sorice, WJD van Leeuwen, CB Zou. 2018. Viewing woody-plant encroachment through a social-ecological lens. Bioscience 68: 691-705.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Scholtz, R. SD Fuhlendorf, SR Archer. 2018. Climate-fire interactions constrain potential woody plant cover and stature in North American Great Plains grasslands. Global Ecology and Biogeography 27: 936-945.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Houlahan, JE, DJ Currie, K Cottenie, GS Cumming, CS Findlay, SD Fuhlendorf, P Legendre, EH Muldavin, D Noble, R Russell, RD Stevens, TJ Willis, SM Wondzell. Negative relationships between species richness and temporal variability are common but weak in natural systems. Ecology 99: 2592-2604.


Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience includes private ranchers, conservationist and land managers, as well as scientists, natural resource and agricultural agencies of Oklahoma and the United States. Collectively, this work has led to the development of a working group that meets annually and this year met in Kansas. This Patch Burn Grazing working group includes ranchers, employees from state and federal agencies, and university representatives from 11 states. Our work has received additional funding by state and federal agencies. This work also has been integral to the Lesser Prairie Chicken Initiative through the NRCS. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The patch-burn working group met again this year in Missouri. It is a group of researchers and managers that meets once a year to determine progress and challenges associated with their efforts. This working group was put together based on the seminal research connected to this project and includes representatives from Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Texas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and other areas. We conducted extension workshops to educate professionals on rangeland management appropriate for wildlife conservation. This project contributes to my personal development by continuing to get me invited to give presentations and interact with people from many different communities. The latest is a strong interest in Montana where this research is being applied to government and private land in northern Mixed Prairie. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We continue to publish articles in peer-reviewed journals. Articles have been written about our work in International and other more regional outlets. Our extension partners continue to develop outreach material that are based on this research. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?I recently was awarded a grant to work on Bobwhite quail to find a way to integrate their management as an objective in woody plant management and grazing management on rangelands.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We acquired grants from Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and continue to work on grants through The Nature Conservancy, Natural Resource Conservation Service, and the National Science Foundation. We completed a project on the effect of energy development on Lesser prairie-chickens, grazing and fire on Greater prairie-chickens and several other projects on the management of bobwhite quail. We completed a project on coyote behavior in response to livestock management, prescribed fires and energy development. We also completed a funded by joint-fire sciences that was focused on using grazing and prescribed fires to manage fuels that limit wildfire and maintain wildlife habitat. Accomplishments over the past year include 22 peer-reviewed publications, outreach to the Natural Resource Conservation Service and Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, completion of several graduate students and acquisition of money to perform this research.

Publications

  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Fuhlendorf, SD, RWS Fynn, DA McGranahan, D Twidwell. 2017. Heterogeneity as the basis of rangeland management. Rangeland Systems Edited by David D. Briske.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: Fuhlendorf, SD 2017. A hierarchical perspective to woody plant encroachment for conservation of Prairie-chickens. Symposium on Grouse Conservation and Management. January 30, 2017. Society for Range Management annual meeting in St. George, Utah.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: Scholtz R., Fuhlendorf S.D., Archer S.R. 2017. Social and ecological challenges in understanding fire dynamics and woodland expansion in the Great Plains. Savanna Science Network Meeting, Skukuza, Kruger National Park, South Africa
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: Scholtz R., Fuhlendorf S.D., Archer S.R. 2017. Social and ecological challenges in understanding fire dynamics and woodland expansion in the Great Plains. Society of Rangeland Management, St. George, UT, USA
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Scholtz R., Fuhlendorf S.D., Leis S.A., Picotte J.J. 2016. Spatiotemporal patterns of fire behavior in the Great Plains, USA. Seminars in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: Scholtz R., Polo J.A., Fuhlendorf S.D., Engle D.M., Weir J.R. 2017 Herbicide and fire have mixed effects on reducing woodland expansion in an experimental rangeland. EPSCoR Symposium, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Carroll, JM, CA Davis, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf. 2017. Response of Northern Bobwhite movements to management driven disturbance in a shrub dominated ecosystem. Rangeland Ecology & Management. 70:175-182.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Fuhlendorf, SD, TJ Hovick, RD Elmore, AM Tanner, DM Engle, CA Davis. 2017. A hierarchical perspective to woody plant encroachment for conservation of prairie chickens. Rangeland Ecology & Management. 70: 9-14.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Tanner, EP, RD Elmore, CA Davis, SD Fuhlendorf. 2017. Wintering bird responses to the presence of artificial water in a semi-arid rangeland. Wildlife Biology, wlb 00315.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Elmore, RD, JM Carrol, EP Tanner, TJ Hovick, BA Grisham, SD Fuhlendorf, SK Windels. 2017. Implications of the thermal environment for terrestrial wildlife management. Wildlife Society Bulletin 41: 183-193
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Leis, SA, CE Blocksome, D Twidwell, SD Fuhlendorf, JM Briggs, Larry D. Sanders. 2017 Juniper invasions in grasslands: Research needs and intervention strategies. Rangelands 39: 64-72.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: Fuhlendorf, SD. 2017. Heterogeneity as the basis for rangeland management. Keynote address: Grassland Society of Southern Africa. July 25, 2017. Hoedspruit, Mpumalanga, South Africa.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Tanner EP, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf, C Davis, DK Dahlgren, JP Orange. 2017. Extreme climatic events constrain space use and survival of a ground-nesting bird. Global Change Biology: 23: 1832-1846.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Leverkus, S, SD Fuhlendorf, M Geertsema, RD Elmore, DM Engle, Kristen Baum. 2017. A landscape disturbance matrix for conserving biodiversity. Journal of Ecosystem Management. 17.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Krueger, ES, TE Oschner, SM Quiring, DM Engle, JD Carlson, D Twidwell, SD Fuhlendorf. 2017. Measured soil moisture is a better predictor of large growing season wildfires than the Keetch-Byram drought index. Soil Science Society of America journal 81 490-502.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Hovick, TJ, JM Carroll, RD Elmore, CA Davis, SD Fuhlendorf. 2017. Restoring fire to grasslands is critical for migrating shorebird populations. Ecological Applications: 1805-1814.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Becerra, TA, DM Engle, SD Fuhlendorf, RD Elmore. 2017. Preference for grassland heterogeneity: Implications for biodiversity in the Great Plains. Society & Natural Resources 30: 601-612.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Scholtz, R, JA Polo, SD Fuhlendorf, GD Duckworth. 2017. Land cover dynamics influence distribution of breeding birds in the Great Plains, USA. Biological Conservation 209: 323-331
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Tanner, EP, M Papes, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf, CA Davis. 2017. Incorporating abundance information and guiding variable selection for climate-based ensemble forecasting of species' distributional shifts. PloS one 12: e0184316
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Carroll, JM, CA Davis, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf. 2017. Using a historic drought and high-heat event to validate thermal exposure predictions for ground-dwelling birds. Ecology and Evolution 7: 6413-6422
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Carroll, JM, TJ Hovick, CA Davis, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf. 2017. Reproductive plasticity and landscape heterogeneity benefit a ground-nesting bird in a fire-prone ecosystem. Ecological Application 27: 2234-2244.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Joshi, O, TA Becerra, DM Engle, SD Fuhlendorf, RD Elmore. 2017. Factors affecting public preferences for grassland landscape heterogeneity in the Great Plains. Environmental Management 60: 922-930.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Hovick, TJ, DA McGranahan, RD Elmore, JR Weir, SD Fuhlendorf. 2017. Pyric-carnivory: Raptor use of prescribed fires. Ecology and Evolution 7: 9144-9150
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Tanner, EP, RD Elmore, CA Davis, SD Fuhlendorf. 2017. Evidence of nest tenacity in scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) following an anthropogenic disturbance. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 129: 34-359.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Davis, CA, JP Orange, RA Van Den Bussche, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf, JM Carroll, EP Tanner, DM Leslie Jr. 2017. Extrapair paternity and nest parasitism in two sympatric quail. The Auk. 134- 811-820.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Fogarty, DT, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf, SR Loss. 2017. Influence of olfactory and visual cover on nest site selection and nest success for grassland-nesting birds. Ecology and Evolution. 7: 6413-6422.


Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience includes private ranchers, conservationist and land managers, as well as scientists, natural resource and agricultural agencies of Oklahoma and the United States. Collectively, this work has led to the development of a working group that meets annually and this year met in Kansas. This Patch Burn Grazing working group includes ranchers, employees from state and federal agencies, and university representatives from 11 states. Our work has received additional funding by state and federal agencies. This work also has been integral to the Lesser Prairie Chicken Initiative through the NRCS. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The patch-burn working group met again this year in Texas. It is a group of researchers and managers that meets once a year to determine progress and challenges associated with their efforts. This working group was put together based on the seminal research connected to this project and includes representatives from Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Texas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and other areas. This project contributes to my personal development by continuing to get me invited to give presentations and interact with people from many different communities. The latest is a strong interest in Montana where this research is being applied to government and private land in northern Mixed Prairie. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We continue to publish articles in peer-reviewed journals. Articles have been written about our work in International and other more regional outlets. Our extension partners continue to develop outreach material that are based on this research. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?I plan to continue my accomplishments from this year and develop a new project focused on Sericea Lespedeza.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Accomplishments over the past year include 19 peer-reviewed publications, outreach to the Natural Resource Conservation Service and Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, completion of several graduate students and acquisition of money to perform this research. We acquired grants from The Nature Conservancy and the Natural Resource Conservation Service.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Fuhlendorf, SD. 2016. Pyric herbivory to promote livestock production and wildlife conservation. Nebraska Grazing Conference. August 9. 2016. Kearney Nebraska.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Fuhlendorf, SD, CA Davis, T. Hovick. A phantasmagoria of heterogeneity: Fire, water and birds on a shifting landscape. Symposium: Beyond the ashes: disturbance ecology. The Wildlife Society Annual meeting Raleigh North Carolina.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Fuhlendorf, SD. 2016. Conservation and Ecology of Oklahoma Landscapes. November 9, 2016. Tulsa Community College. Environmental Science Seminar series.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Fuhlendorf, SD. 2016. Rangeland Phantasmagoria: Fire and grazing for rangeland conservation. Plenary Session of the Minnesota Chapter of the Wildlife Society. 2016 Annual Meeting. Mankato Minnesota. February 9-11, 2016.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Fuhlendorf, SD, RWS Fynn, DA McGranahan, D Twidwell. 2016. Heterogeneity as the basis of rangeland management. Symposium: Conceptual Developments of the Rangeland Profession over the past 25 years. Annual Meeting of the Society for Range Management. February 1, 2016. Corpus Christi, Texas.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Fuhlendorf, SD. 2016. Rangelands as thermal landscapes: Temperature across spatial and temporal scales. Symposium: Thermal ecology in rangelands. Annual Meeting of the Society for Range Management. February 1, 2016. Corpus Christi, Texas.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: West, AL, CB Zou, E Stebler, SD Fuhlendorf, B Allred. 2016. Pyric-herbivory and Hydrological Responses in Tallgrass Prairie. Rangeland Ecology & Management 69: 20-27.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: McGranahan, DA, T Hovick, RD Elmore, DM Engle, SD Fuhlendorf, S Winter, JR Miller, DM Debinski. 2016. Temporal variability in aboveground plant biomass decreases as spatial variability increases. Ecology 97: 555-560
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Limb, RF, SD Fuhlendorf, DM Engle, RF Miller. 2016. Synthesis Paper: Assessment of Research on Rangeland Fire as a Management Practice. Rangeland Ecology & Management 69: 415-422.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: TA Becerra, DM Engle, SD Fuhlendorf, RD Elmore. 2016. Preference for Grassland Heterogeneity: Implications for Biodiversity in the Great Plains, Society & Natural Resources, DOI: 10.1080/08941920.2016.1239293
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Tanner, E.P., R.D. Elmore, S.D. Fuhlendorf, C.A. Davis, D.K. Dahlgren, and J.P. Orange. 2016. Extreme climatic events contain space use and survival of a ground-nesting bird. Global Change Biology. doi: 10.1111/gcb.13505
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Carroll, M.J., C.A. Davis, S.D. Fuhlendorf, and R.D. Elmore. 2016. Landscape pattern is critical for the moderation of thermal extremes. Ecosphere 7(7): art e01403.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Earl, J.E., S.D. Fuhlendorf, D. Haukos, A.M. Tanner, R.D. Elmore, and S.A. Carleton. 2016. Characteristics of lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) long-distance movements across their distribution. Ecosphere 7(8): art e01441.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hovick, T.J., B.W. Allred, D.A. McGranahan, M.W. Palmer, R.D. Elmore, and S.D. Fuhlendorf. 2016. Informing conservation by identifying range shift patterns across breeding habitats and migration strategies. Biodiversity and Conservation DOI: 10.1007/s10531-016-1053-6.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Orange, J.P., C.A. Davis, R.D. Elmore, and S.D. Fuhlendorf. 2016. Temporary communal brooding in northern bobwhite and scaled quail broods. Western North American Naturalist 76:122-127.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Tanner, EP, RD Elmore, CA Davis, DK Dahlgren, ET Thacker, JP Orange. 2016. Does the presence of oil and gas infrastructure potentially increase risk of harvest in northern bobwhite. Wildlife Biology 22: 294-304.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Earl, JE. SD Fuhlendorf. 2016. Relative importance of climate variables to population vital rates: A quantitative synthesis for the Lesser prairie-chickens. PloS one 11 (9), e0163585
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Earl, JE, SD Fuhlendorf, D Haukos, AM Tanner, D Elmore, SA Carleton. 2016. Characteristics of lesser prairie?chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) long?distance movements across their distribution. Ecosphere 7 (8).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Krueger, ES, TE Ochsner, JD Carlson, DM Engle, D Twidwell, SD Fuhlendorf. 2016. Concurrent and antecedent soil moisture relate positively or negatively to probability of large wildfires depending on season. International Journal of Wildland Fire 25: 657-668.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Bowman, DMJS, GLW Perry, SI Higgins, CN Johnson, SD Fuhlendorf, BP Murphey. 2016. Pyrodiversity is the coupling of biodiversity and fire regimes in food webs. Philisophical Transactions of the Royal Society 371: 20150169.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Fuhlendorf SD, JR Brown. 2016. Future directions for usable rangeland science: From plant communities to landscapes. Rangelands 38: 75-78.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Orange, JP, CA Davis, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf. 2016. Temporary communal brooding in Northern Bobwhite and Scaled Quail broods. Western North American Naturalist 76:122-127.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Twidwell, D, AS West, WB Hiatt, AL Ramirez, JT Winter, DM Engle, SD Fuhlendorf, JD Carlson. Plant Invasions or Fire Policy: Which Has Altered Fire Behavior More in Tallgrass Prairie? Ecosystems 19 (2), 356-368
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Davis, CA, RT Churchwell, SD Fuhlendorf, DM Engle, TJ Hovick. 2016. Effects of pyric herbivory on source-sink dynamics in grassland birds. Journal of Applied Ecology 53: 1004-1012.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Carroll, JM, CA Davis, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf. 2016. Response of Northern Bobwhite movements to management driven disturbance in a shrub dominated ecosystem. Rangeland Ecology & Management. DOI: 10.1016/j.rama.2016.08.006


Progress 11/19/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience includes private ranchers, conservationist and land managers, as well as scientists, natural resource and agricultural agencies of Oklahoma and the United States. Collectively, this work has led to the development of a working group that meets annually and this year met in Kansas. The Patch Burn Grazing working group includes ranchers, employees from state and federal agencies, and university representatives from 11 states. Our work has received additional funding by state and federal agencies. This work also has been integral to the Lesser Prairie Chicken Initiative through the NRCS. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The patch-burn working group met again this year in Kansas. It is a group of researchers and managers that meets once a year to determine progress and challenges associated with their efforts. This working group was put together based on the seminal research connected to this project and includes representatives from Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Texas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and other areas. This project contributes to my personal development by continuing to get me invited to give presentations and interact with people from many different communities. The latest is a strong interest in Montana where this research is being applied to government and private land in northern Mixed Prairie. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We continue to publish articles in peer-reviewed journals. Articles have been written about our work in International and other more regional outlets. Our extension partners continue to develop outreach material that are based on this research What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This projectwill continue to generatemanuscripts. Additionally, I often meet with the NRCS and state wildlife agencies to explore opportunities for outreach.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Our preliminary results suggest that rangelands can be managed for livestock production and with appropriate efforts the fire-grazing interaction can lead to improved biodiversity, ecosystem function, livestock production and fuels management. Studies that I have worked on in the past year include the impacts of energy development and land management on lesser and greater prairie-chickens and bobwhite quail and the integration of fuels management and wildlife management on complex landscapes. All of these projects include graduate students that are in various phases of completion. The greatest challenge in accomplishing this is that the agricultural education and agricultural culture have promoted homogeneity in land management that is counter to conservation practices and many landscapes are experiencing energy development that resembles industrialization of agricultural landscapes.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2015 Citation: Carroll, M.J., C.A. Davis., R.D. Elmore, and S.D. Fuhlendforf. 2015. Proximate thermal environments constrain diurnal behavior of Northern bobwhite broods. 2015 Oklahoma Natural Resources Conference, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2015 Citation: Tanner, E. P., M. Pape, R. D. Elmore, S. D. Fuhlendorf, and C. A. Davis. 2015. When strongholds collapse: gains in future distributions may cost current population sources under future climate projections. The Wildlife Society 22nd National Conference, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2015 Citation: Tanner, E. P., R. D. Elmore, C. A. Davis, and S. D. Fuhlendorf. 2015. Predicting shifts in northern bobwhite and scaled quail distribution from climate change. Joint Meeting of the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Fisheries Society and the Oklahoma Wildlife Society, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2015 Citation: Fuhlendorf SD. 2015. Importance of Fire to conserve and restore wildlife on working rangelands in the Northern Great Plains. Symposium: Rangeland Wildlife in the Northern Great Plains: Engaging for Success!. The Wildlife Society Manitoba Canada.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2015 Citation: Fuhlendorf, SD. 2015. Rangeland vegetation science as usable science. 2015. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. Baltimore Maryland. Symposium Usable Science on Rangelands.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hovick, TJ, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf, DM Engle, RG Hamilton. 2015. Spatial Heterogeneity increases diversity and stability in grassland bird communities. Ecological Applications 25: 662-672.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Tanner, EP, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf, CA Davis, ET Thacker, DK Dahlgren. 2015. Behavioral Responses at distribution extremes: How artificial surface water can affect quail movement patterns. Rangeland Ecology & Management 68: 476-484.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Carroll, JM, CA Davis, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf, ET Thacker. 2015. Thermal patterns constrain diurnal behavior of a ground-dwelling bird. Ecosphere 6 (11), art222
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hovick TJ, BW Allred, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf, RG Hamilton, A Breland. 2015. Dynamic Disturbance Processes Create Dynamic Lek Site Selection in a Prairie Grouse. PloS one 10 (9), e0137882
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Winter SL, BW Allred, KR Hickman, SD Fuhlendorf. 2015. Tallgrass prairie vegetation response to spring fires and bison grazing. The Southwestern Naturalist 60 (1), 30-35
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Scasta, JD, DM Engle, JL Talley, JR Weir, SD Fuhlendorf, DM Debinski. 2015. Drought influences control of parasitic flies of cattle on pastures managed with patch-burn grazing. Rangeland Ecology & Management 68 (3), 290-297
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Allred, BW, WK Smith, D Twidwell, JH Haggerty, SW Running, DE Naugle, SD Fuhlendorf. 2015. Ecosystem services lost to oil and gas in North America. Science 348 (6233), 401-402
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hovick, TJ, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf, DK Dahlgren. 2015. Weather Constrains the Influence of Fire and Grazing on Nesting Greater Prairie-Chickens. Rangeland Ecology & Management 68 (2), 186-193
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Carroll, JM, CA Davis, RD Elmore, SD Fuhlendorf. 2015. A Ground-Nesting Galliforms Response to Thermal Heterogeneity: Implications for Ground-Dwelling Birds. PloS one 10 (11)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Twidwell, D, AS West, WB Hiatt, AL Ramirez, JT Winter, DM Engle, SD Fuhlendorf, JD Carlson. 2015. Plant Invasions or fire policy: Which has altered fire behavior more in tallgrass prairie? Ecosystems 2015: 1-13.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Krueger, ES, TE Ochsner, DM Engle, JD Carlson, D Twidwell, SD Fuhlendorf. 2015. Soil Moisture Affects Growing-Season Wildfire Size in the Southern Great Plains. Soil Science Society of America Journal 79 (6), 1567-1576
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Scasta, JD, ET Thacker, TJ Hovick, DM Engle, BW Allred, SD Fuhlendorf, JR Weir. 2015. Patch-burn grazing (PBG) as a livestock management alternative for fire-prone ecosystems of North America. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 1-18
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Scasta, JD, DM Engle, SD Fuhlendorf, DD Redfearn, TG Bidwell. 2015. Meta-analysis of exotic forages as invasive plants in complex multi-functioning landscapes. Invasive Plant Science and Management 8: 292-306.