Rangeland Ecology & Management最新文献

{"title":"Does Initial Body Size Influence Weight Gain of Stocker Steers During the Growing Season in Semiarid Western Great Plains Rangeland?","authors":"Justin D. Derner ,&nbsp;David J. Augustine ,&nbsp;J. Gonzalo Irisarri ,&nbsp;John P. Ritten ,&nbsp;Edward J. Raynor","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ranchers in the western Great Plains grazing yearlings (i.e., stockers) during the growing season need to understand how variation in starting animal weights influences subsequent end weights for marketing opportunities and prices received. Whether variation in stocker steer body size (i.e., entry weight) at the start of the growing season influences weight gains during the summer grazing (midMay through September), period on semiarid shortgrass prairie rangeland remains unclear. We used 10 yr (2014–2023) of weight gains from 2 162 stocker steers (<em>Bos taurus</em>) that had entry weights ranging from 222.7 to 370.0 kg to assess if grazing season weight gains under traditional, season-long grazing management with moderate stocking rate were influenced by entry weights under varying levels of spring (April through June) precipitation and pasture forage productivity (low vs. high productivity soils). Entry weight had no effect on grazing season weight gains regardless of precipitation level and soil type (as measured by ecological site). Stocker operations in this rangeland can anticipate steer weight gains of 135 kg steer⁻¹ under average precipitation and forage productivity. Summer grazing season weight gains did exhibit a quadratic relationship between spring precipitation and pasture productivity. A 25% reduction in spring precipitation decreased weight gains by 16% and 23% in the high and low productivity pastures, respectively; 50% reduction in spring precipitation lowered weight gains by 40% and 55%, respectively. Conversely, increasing spring precipitation by 50% increased weight gains by only 15% and 20% in the high and low productivity pastures, respectively. These findings highlight that abundant precipitation can result in substantial forage production, but forage quality reductions will limit additional weight gain. The plateau in steer weight gain when April to June precipitation exceeds 170 mm suggests that forage quality limitations could potentially be ameliorated by strategic protein supplementation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Pages 196-201"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145095845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dynamics of Land Use Changes and Eco-efficiency of Pastoralists in Northern Iran","authors":"Masoumeh Arabollah Firozjah,&nbsp;Azar Sheikhzeinoddin,&nbsp;Mohammad Bakhshoodeh,&nbsp;Mansour Zibaei","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.016","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.016","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rangeland degradation caused by overgrazing and land use change poses a major threat to ecological sustainability and pastoral livelihoods in northern Iran. This study investigates land use dynamics and grazing intensity in Mazandaran province, addressing two key questions: (1) how will rangeland land use evolve under current grazing pressures? and (2) how do these changes affect pastoral eco-efficiency? The study area encompasses six land use categories: forest, barren land, good, moderate, and poor rangelands, and built-up areas. Using CA-Markov modeling, we project substantial declines in forest cover and good/moderate rangelands by 2051. Environmental vulnerability was assessed with the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), and pastoralists’ eco-efficiency was evaluated via a directional semi-oriented radial DEA model, incorporating desirable (livestock profit margin ratio) and undesirable (pasture degradation) outputs. Tobit regression identified grazing intensity and management practices as key determinants. Results indicate that the average eco-efficiency of 256 pastoralists was only 0.43, reflecting a strong inverse relationship with environmental vulnerability and underscoring urgent institutional and managerial shortcomings. These findings highlight the need for targeted rangeland management, sustainable fodder cultivation, and controlled grazing strategies to safeguard natural resources and pastoral livelihoods.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Pages 395-405"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145415665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Northern Bobwhite Response to Drought is Biome-Specific","authors":"Samantha M. Cady,&nbsp;Craig A. Davis,&nbsp;Samuel D. Fuhlendorf","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.07.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.07.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Weather extremes are increasing in frequency and magnitude, and this trend is projected to continue as anthropogenic climate change progresses. These extremes can include increases in severe drought as well as anomalously heavy rainfall. As birds continue to face novel climatic pressures, including precipitation extremes, the need to hone our understanding of their variable responses is becoming increasingly urgent. Though many studies have evaluated wildlife responses to precipitation variability, less is known about possible biome-specific responses within a single species. Using a half-century of systematically collected count data, we investigate northern bobwhite (<em>Colinus virginianus</em>) responses to drought and abnormally high rainfall in the Great Plains and Eastern Temperate Forest biomes of North America. Our study demonstrated that, though bobwhite underwent a significant response to declining precipitation throughout its range, the direction of effect was biome-dependent. Specifically, bobwhite relative abundance declined following 12-month droughts prior to the breeding season April in the Great Plains but had a weak, positive association with drought in the Eastern Temperate Forest. This study adds complexity to our understanding of how bobwhite respond to the same environmental pressure (i.e., drought) across its geographic range and highlights the importance of developing region-specific management strategies in the face of a changing climate.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Pages 113-116"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144919907","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Remote Sensing of Drought Impacts to Support Resilient Land Use and Urban Fringe Planning and Power Supply System","authors":"Siqi Zhang ,&nbsp;WenYang Xu ,&nbsp;Iram Naz ,&nbsp;Xiangtian Zheng ,&nbsp;Mohammad Suhail Meer ,&nbsp;Habib Kraiem ,&nbsp;Rana Muhammad Zulqarnain ,&nbsp;Qaiser Abbas","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Drought poses a critical threat to rangeland ecosystems, land use sustainability, and the resilience of infrastructure systems, including energy networks near urban fringes. This study applies a multi-index remote sensing approach to evaluate the spatial and temporal impacts of drought on rangelands by comparing nondrought (2023) and drought (2024) conditions. Satellite-derived indices such as Vegetation Health Index (VHI), Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Soil Moisture Index (SMI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Temperature Condition Index (TCI), Land Surface Temperature (LST), Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Evaporative Stress Index (ESI), Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), and Drought Severity Index (DSI) were integrated to characterize drought manifestations. Principal Component Analysis identified three core drought dimensions: vegetation response, thermal stress, and soil moisture dynamics, explaining 78% of the total variance. Notably, VCI, NDWI, and TCI emerged as the most sensitive indicators of drought stress. Western regions rangelands experienced the highest severity, while eastern regions showed greater ecological resilience. Land cover analysis revealed a 1.2% increase in rangeland area during drought, largely due to the conversion of shrublands, indicating a potential shift in vegetation regimes. These findings inform not only ecological management but also urban fringe planning, where land-use shifts under drought may affect infrastructure vulnerability and power system reliability. By offering a comprehensive, spatially explicit drought assessment framework, this study supports integrated land-use planning and enhances the adaptive capacity of socio-ecological and energy systems in semi-arid urbanizing regions. The results enhance our understanding of how rangeland ecosystems respond to drought and offer a methodological framework for assessing drought impacts in comparable semi-arid regions worldwide.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Pages 138-151"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144988634","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Critical Precipitation Months Across the Western United States","authors":"Grace Campbell,&nbsp;Tonya Haigh","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.10.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.10.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Critical dates are timely points in the annual management cycle that help land managers identify when to implement different phases of their drought management plans. Critical dates related to grazing decisions may be identified based on key relationships between seasonal precipitation and total forage production for the year. In this paper, we explore whether critical months for precipitation may be identified from analysis of precipitation and forage relationships at broad geographic scales and using remotely sensed data to estimate forage production and precipitation. To explore these regional relationships, we used a stepwise linear regression model focused on monthly precipitation (mm) to predict annual forage (kg-ha⁻¹) across 121 Major Land Resource Areas (MLRAs) in the Great Plains and western United States. The results are months of precipitation that have the most statistically significant relationship with herbage production, also called “critical months,” in each MLRA. The strongest statistical relationships between precipitation and total annual herbage production occur in MLRAs located along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, the Southern Plains, and Southwest. A weak to lack of relationship is generally found for MLRAs located in the Pacific Northwest and at high elevations. This study’s findings can help inform guidance for ranchers who want to take a more proactive approach to grazing and drought management by helping set critical dates based on precipitation timing criteria.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Pages 527-534"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145617651","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Editorial Board/Journal Info","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/S1550-7424(25)00160-5","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S1550-7424(25)00160-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Page IFC"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145789898","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Wildfire and Postfire Restoration Treatments Have Lasting Effects on Rodent Habitat and Community Composition","authors":"Savannah L. Bartel,&nbsp;Robert S. Arkle,&nbsp;David S. Pilliod","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.07.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.07.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rangeland fires can quickly change the structure of wildlife habitat and cause changes that persist for years to decades. To facilitate habitat recovery, postfire restoration actions often involve sowing seeds of native and nonnative perennial grasses and shrubs. Empirical information on whether such restoration activities are effective and how wildlife will respond is unknown. We evaluated the effects of wildfire and postfire seeding on rodent communities in sagebrush steppe by measuring environmental characteristics and live-trapping rodents at three wildfire locations in the northern Great Basin that burned 2–14 yr prior. Sampled plots were either 1) burned (control), 2) burned and seeded with nonnative species, 3) burned and seeded with native species, or 4) not burned (reference). Unburned reference plots had 95.7% more shrub cover and less cover of nonnative annual grasses than all burned plots. Burned plots seeded with native species had greater cover of native perennial grasses and less bare ground compared with burned plots seeded with nonnative species or control plots. Wildfire and postfire seeding significantly changed rodent community composition but not species richness. American deermouse (<em>Peromyscus maniculatus</em>) and least chipmunk (<em>Tamias minimus</em>) were less likely to occur in burned plots than in unburned reference plots. Ord’s kangaroo rat (<em>Dipodomys ordii</em>) and Piute ground squirrel (<em>Urocitellus mollis</em>) were more likely to occur in burned plots than in unburned reference plots. Sagebrush vole (<em>Lemmiscus curtatus</em>) was more likely to occur in burned plots with native seeding than with all other treatments. Species’ responses to wildfire and seeding reflected their relationships to cover of shrubs, perennial grasses, and nonnative annual grasses. These results suggest that wildfire and postfire seeding have long-lasting effects on wildlife communities. Landscape-level rodent diversity may be enhanced when small-scale disturbances or restoration actions increase landscape heterogeneity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Pages 28-36"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144830909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Energy Infrastructure as Built Environment in Rural Rangelands of the US Interior West","authors":"Devan Allen McGranahan","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.09.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.09.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Wildfire is occurring more frequently in areas identified as wildland-urban interface (WUI), where natural vegetation meets or mixes with the human built environment. Although understanding of the spatial extent of WUI has been expanded to include rural areas and rangeland ecosystems, products that identify WUI based on the location of homes and other buildings appear to miss components of the built environment that dominate these unconventional locations, specifically, energy production structures (e.g., petroleum wells, wind turbines, solar arrays, and geothermal plants). This study describes the spatial distribution and density of energy production areas in the US Interior West, summarizes the land cover and current WUI designations within energy production areas, and describes historical wildfire activity within energy production areas by state. An analysis of a combination of publicly available geospatial data identified a 2 022  201 km² energy production footprint comprised of 1 220 347 individual energy production structures. Only 6% of the footprint is currently designated as WUI, and 67% of the footprint is comprised of rangeland. Four out of the five states with the largest energy production footprint have also experienced the greatest historical wildfire activity within the energy production areas, suggesting these structures are at risk of fast-spreading wildfire through rangeland fuels. Despite the fire risk to energy production assets and the challenges energy infrastructure might pose to emergency managers, there is a paucity of research or resources addressing these changes within rural landscapes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Pages 302-306"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145265993","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Corrigendum to “Risks and Rewards of Pre-emergent Herbicide (Indaziflam) to Defend Core Sagebrush-Steppe Ecosystems Under Suboptimal Precipitation” [Rangeland Ecology & Management, volume 102, September 2025, pages 153-159]","authors":"Brynne E. Lazarus,&nbsp;Matthew J. Germino","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.08.007","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Page 318"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145265996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Willingness to Pay for Weather Index-Based Livestock Insurance in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China","authors":"Zeng Tang ,&nbsp;Lu Peng ,&nbsp;Shijun Jiang ,&nbsp;Funing Li ,&nbsp;Menglin Zhao ,&nbsp;Ying Liu ,&nbsp;Yubing Fan","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.09.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2025.09.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Weather index-based livestock insurance offers a promising risk management tool for pastoral systems, yet demand remains low due to affordability issues. Understanding pastoralists’ willingness to pay (WTP) for this innovative insurance product provides valuable insights for policymakers and insurers. This study investigates the WTP for a hypothetical snow disaster yak index insurance in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) using a double-bounded contingent valuation method with data from 480 households. The results indicate a significant proportion of participants (88.9%) demonstrate a desire to acquire this yak index insurance, with an approximate average WTP of 54.125 CNY per yak. The estimated WTP surpasses the premium of the current indemnity-based yak insurance (15 CNY/yak) but falls short of the actuarially fair premium for this hypothesized yak index insurance (117 CNY/yak). Herd size and income structure serve as key WTP determinants, with larger commercial operations demonstrating higher WTP levels. These findings suggest that yak index insurance is unlikely to achieve commercial viability without additional support in the QTP. It is important to view it as a supplementary rather than a replacement answer to current insurance choices. Furthermore, directing incentives toward pastoralists who are focused on commercial activities can increase the rate of adoption.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"103 ","pages":"Pages 281-287"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145265990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}