Rangeland Ecology & Management最新文献

{"title":"Assessing Conservation Readiness: The Where, Who, and How of Strategic onservation in the Sagebrush Biome","authors":"Katherine Wollstein ,&nbsp;Dustin Johnson ,&nbsp;Chad Boyd","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.013","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.013","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The sagebrush biome is rapidly deteriorating largely due to the ecosystem threats of conifer expansion, more frequent and larger wildfires, and proliferation of invasive annual grasses. Reversing the impacts of these threats is a formidable challenge. The Sagebrush Conservation Design (SCD) emphasized that limited conservation resources should first be used to maintain Core Sagebrush Areas (CSA), and then to grow such areas where possible. The SCD heightens the ecological importance of maintaining and strategically growing CSAs. However, the fact that these areas have been identified does not mean that conservation is immediately possible or will be effective. Strategic conservation in the sagebrush biome does not only involve working in ecologically important areas; it is an approach that must explicitly acknowledge the social and administrative conditions in which individuals and organizations are making decisions. We accordingly propose that strategic, durable work can only occur in geographies of “conservation readiness,” that is, where ecological importance, social capacity, and conducive administrative conditions intersect. We offer a framework for assessing conservation readiness that functions as both an inventory and diagnostic tool, highlighting current assets while shining a light on needs and the types of activities that will create or sustain conservation readiness. We demonstrate the utility of the Conservation Readiness Framework for identifying the different roles and activities that must occur at local, mid, and regional levels to nurture conservation readiness over time. In practice, this approach contrasts with management driven solely by ecological importance and illustrates that effective conservation must also involve targeted efforts that curate both social and administrative conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"97 ","pages":"Pages 187-199"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142437890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Climate Change Amplifies Ongoing Declines in Sagebrush Ecological Integrity","authors":"Martin C. Holdrege ,&nbsp;Kyle A. Palmquist ,&nbsp;Daniel R. Schlaepfer ,&nbsp;William K. Lauenroth ,&nbsp;Chad S. Boyd ,&nbsp;Megan K. Creutzburg ,&nbsp;Michele R. Crist ,&nbsp;Kevin E. Doherty ,&nbsp;Thomas E. Remington ,&nbsp;John C. Tull ,&nbsp;Lief A. Wiechman ,&nbsp;John B. Bradford","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding how climate change will contribute to ongoing declines in sagebrush ecological integrity is critical for informing natural resource management, yet complicated by interactions with wildfire and biological invasions. We assessed potential future changes in sagebrush ecological integrity under a range of scenarios using an individual plant-based simulation model, integrated with remotely sensed estimates of current sagebrush ecological integrity. The simulation model allowed us to estimate how climate change, wildfire, and invasive annuals interact to alter the potential abundance of key plant functional types that influence sagebrush ecological integrity: sagebrush, perennial grasses, and annual grasses. Our results suggest that climate driven reductions in sagebrush ecological integrity may occur over broader areas than increases in sagebrush ecological integrity. Declines in sagebrush ecological integrity were most likely in hot and dry regions while increases were more likely in cool and wet regions. The most common projected transitions of sagebrush ecological integrity classes were declines from Core Sagebrush Area to Growth Opportunity Area and from Growth Opportunity Area to Other Rangeland Area. Responses varied considerably across projections from different global climate models, highlighting the importance of climate uncertainty. However, our projections tended to be robust in areas that currently have the highest sagebrush ecological integrity. Our results provide a long-term perspective on the vulnerability of sagebrush ecosystems to climate change and may inform geographic prioritization of conservation and restoration investments. The results also suggest that ongoing threats, such as the continued invasion by annual grasses and increased wildfire frequency, are likely to be amplified by climate change, and imply that the current imbalance between capacity for conservation to address threats to sagebrush will grow as the climate warms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"97 ","pages":"Pages 25-40"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142437969","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Strategic and Science-Based Framework for Management of Invasive Annual Grasses in the Sagebrush Biome","authors":"Chad S. Boyd ,&nbsp;Megan K. Creutzburg ,&nbsp;Alexander V. Kumar ,&nbsp;Joseph T. Smith ,&nbsp;Kevin E. Doherty ,&nbsp;Brian A. Mealor ,&nbsp;John B. Bradford ,&nbsp;Matthew Cahill ,&nbsp;Stella M. Copeland ,&nbsp;Cameron A. Duquette ,&nbsp;Lindy Garner ,&nbsp;Martin C. Holdrege ,&nbsp;Bill Sparklin ,&nbsp;Todd B. Cross","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.019","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.019","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the last 20 years, the North American sagebrush biome has lost over 500 000 ha of intact and largely intact sagebrush plant communities on an annual basis. Much of this loss has been associated with expansion and infilling of invasive annual grasses (IAGs). These species are highly competitive against native perennial grasses in disturbed environments, and create fuel conditions that increase both the likelihood of fire ignition and the ease of wildfire spread across large landscapes. Given the current rate of IAG expansion in both burned and unburned rangelands, we propose a range-wide paradigm shift from opportunistic and reactive management, to a framework that spatially prioritizes maintenance of largely intact, uninvaded areas and improvement of invaded habitats in strategic locations. We created a framework accompanied by biome-wide priority maps using geospatial overlays that target areas to <strong>MAINTAIN</strong> large, uninvaded areas as natural resource anchors through activities to prevent IAGs, <strong>IMPROVE</strong> areas where management success in restoring large, intact landscapes is most likely, and <strong>CONTAIN</strong> IAG infestations where necessary. We then offer three case studies to illustrate the use of these concepts and map products at multiple scales. Our map products operate at the biome scale using regional data sources and additional data sources will be needed to inform local conservation planning. However, the basic strategic management principles of (1) maintaining the intact and uninvaded areas that we can least afford to lose to IAGs, (2) improving areas where we have a reasonable likelihood of restoration success, and (3) containing problems where we must, are timely, relevant, and scalable from the biome to local levels.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"97 ","pages":"Pages 61-72"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142437972","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Where Do We Go From Here With Sagebrush Conservation: A Long-Term Perspective?","authors":"Thomas E. Remington ,&nbsp;Kenneth E. Mayer ,&nbsp;San J. Stiver","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>During our careers with State Wildlife Agencies and involvement with the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, we have watched and participated as state and federal agency perspectives about, and actions toward sagebrush (<em>Artemisia</em> spp.) have evolved. This change from sagebrush removal efforts to encourage forage production to conservation and restoration had several causes, but the largest factor was the long-term decline in greater sage-grouse (<em>Centrocercus urophasianus</em>) populations and potential for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Potential for listing accelerated planning and implementation activity by the Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, states, nongovernmental organizations, and private landowners that continues to this day. The tremendous investment we have all made in collaborative science has set us up for success in conserving sagebrush and sagebrush obligate species. We offer insights organized around five themes and specific recommendations for moving sagebrush conservation forward. Despite over three decades of unprecedented conservation efforts, we are still losing sagebrush at a rate of 0.53 million hectares (1.3 million acres) per year, which means we must both increase our capacity for sagebrush conservation and become more strategic in our investments. Shifting the emphasis of conservation from sage-grouse to sagebrush will reduce conflicts, increase participation, and broaden benefits. Increasing capacity, both fiscal and human from biome to local scales will require effectively communicating the value of, and threats to, the sagebrush biome. Recent science products, including this issue, offer a new ability and create a responsibility to strategically target sagebrush dollars where we can be successful. This strategic approach should be adaptive, with explicit conservation goals and monitoring to evaluate progress. This will require unprecedented collaboration to establish priority areas and goals, which will necessitate a collaborative governance structure to coordinate. Toward this end, we offer 9 specific implementation recommendations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"97 ","pages":"Pages 200-208"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142437891","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ranchers’ and Federal Land Managers’ Mental Models of Rangeland Management Across an Environmental Gradient","authors":"Calandria P. Puntenney ,&nbsp;April Hulet ,&nbsp;Kelly A. Hopping","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.025","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.025","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Managing rangelands to meet social-ecological goals requires monitoring ecological indicators to inform management responses. These goals and monitoring objectives are grounded in land managers’ understandings, or mental models, of the rangeland system. Rangeland managers’ mental models are often highly place-specific, which can enable management actions to be matched to local conditions. In the western United States, ranchers and federal agency personnel, like those in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), are two of the primary social groups involved in rangeland management. We compared ranchers’ and BLM personnel's rangeland mental models across two regions. We conducted semi-structured interviews about their management goals and objectives, as well as their perspectives on important rangeland system dynamics and the constraints inhibiting them from reaching their goals. We used a mixed-methods approach, including network analysis metrics, to elucidate similarities and differences in their mental models and in the ecological indicators they use to assess rangeland health and to trigger management actions. We found that their goals differed more between social groups, whereas specific management objectives differed more between geographic regions and reflected local priorities, such as invasive species and wildfire risk. Ranchers’ and agency personnel's mental models indicated divergent perspectives on the seasonal impacts of livestock on soils and vegetation and about grazing as either a disturbance to be mitigated or as a tool to maintain critical ecosystem processes. These findings indicate that ranchers and agency personnel have place-specific knowledge, but that their mental models are more similar to others in their social group than to those outside their social group in the same region. Differences in their conceptions of rangeland management suggest areas for increased communication between ranchers and agency personnel, which could in turn promote mutual understanding and collaboration toward shared objectives, thereby helping both groups overcome constraints to reach their management goals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"98 ","pages":"Pages 94-109"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142745693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Understanding How Ranchers Adaptively Manage for Drought in Northeastern Colorado","authors":"Emily Donaldson ,&nbsp;Hailey Wilmer ,&nbsp;Corrie Knapp ,&nbsp;Justin D. Derner","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.026","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.026","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As ranchers in the western United States face more severe droughts with increased variability in forage production, their operations and associated rural communities face heightened vulnerability to drought impacts. Predicted increases in the severity and duration of droughts in this region suggest that understanding context-specific responses could allow for more effective drought responses. We employed a mixed-methods approach (mail surveys and focus groups) to understand factors that influence individual rancher's observed adaptive response and use of decision-making indicators to respond to drought. We find that, like other rangeland systems, Colorado shortgrass steppe ranchers are motivated to maintain an economically viable operation through flexible management and diverse income sources in the face of barriers like resource variability, ecological complexity, and other stressors beyond their control (e.g., climate and feed grain markets). The most common adaptation strategy was maintaining conservative stocking rates; however, ranchers also used on-site drought indicators such as decreased soil moisture, decreased summer precipitation, and high plant stress. Our research suggests that in NE Colorado, traditional rangeland management with conservative stocking rates may be an example of adaptive management. Our research suggests that it is critical to understand context to assess the adaptive actions of ranching communities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"98 ","pages":"Pages 83-93"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142745773","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":"Ranchers’ Views of Smart Foodscapes: Applied and Methodological Insights","authors":"Zubair Barkat ,&nbsp;Jessica D. Ulrich-Schad ,&nbsp;Eric Thacker","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.027","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.027","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Outreach and programs aimed at encouraging the adoption of conservation practices in agriculture often rely upon insights from past, current, and potential users. However, collecting feedback can be challenging, especially for innovative or complex practices. This research note presents an approach used to elicit rancher input on Smart Foodscapes (SFS) -islands of diverse perennial legumes and forbs with high nutrient content, tested as part of a transdisciplinary USDA-funded project designed to improve the sustainability and profitability of western US beef production. We shared a 4-minute video about SFS, followed by an online survey to a sample of Utah ranchers. We reflect on the usefulness of this technique in gathering ranchers’ feedback, focusing on strengths and weaknesses in informing the iterative project along with methodological considerations. We find that ranchers’ perceptions of SFS are motivated by economic benefits, environmental stewardship, and better land management. Challenges included managing SFS within their existing ranching system and cost and time investment compared to future benefits. Methodologically, our research highlights the role of audiovisual tools to help convey complicated concepts. However, our research revealed the limitations of purchased email lists from private vendors and strategies to filter out irrelevant responses from social media were required. Finally, the study provides insights for outreach efforts and highlights early engagement and clear communication as critical aspects of transdisciplinary projects. We recommend that future research should explore how ranchers’ sense of place influences adoption decisions. Also, the survey revealed ranchers’ concerns about government trust (12%). Thus, we will investigate whether government trust affects their willingness to adopt SFS in future research. Also, involving stakeholders and setting up a dynamic feedback mechanism is necessary for the successful implementation of innovative systems-level sustainable agricultural systems. While focused on SFS, applied and methodological insights can be used in agricultural conservation efforts more broadly.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"98 ","pages":"Pages 293-296"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142746792","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":"Modeling Riparian Use by Cattle – Influence of Management, Season, and Weather","authors":"Mary M. Rowland ,&nbsp;Ryan M. Nielson ,&nbsp;David W. Bohnert ,&nbsp;Bryan A. Endress ,&nbsp;Michael J. Wisdom ,&nbsp;Joshua P. Averett","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.023","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.023","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Because riparian ecosystems are highly valued for their diverse ecological services, past and ongoing disturbances in riparian zones have led to extensive restoration efforts, litigation, and compliance monitoring of the effects of livestock grazing. Better understanding of the factors that influence cattle riparian use, especially in landscapes supporting threatened or endangered fish, could lead to improved predictions of management outcomes and riparian recovery for sustainable grazing systems. Although published models predict habitat selection by cattle, there is a gap in our understanding of cattle use, or occupancy, in riparian zones. As part of a long-term, multi-disciplinary project in a semi-arid riparian system in Oregon, USA, we collected 4 yr (2017-2020) of cattle telemetry data to identify factors affecting riparian use by cattle. We used beta regression in a Bayesian hierarchical framework to model the daily proportion of cattle locations in the riparian zone. We hypothesized that riparian use would 1) increase with increasing Julian date, temperature, solar radiation, days in pasture, and days since herding, and 2) decrease with higher humidity and precipitation. The best model predicted that use was greater with increasing days since herding, number of days grazing in a pasture, and Julian date, and lower as relative humidity increased. Daily riparian use by cattle averaged 0.167 (SD = 0.180) across years and pastures. The final model performed well, based on k-fold cross validation (Pearson's correlation = 0.72; 90% CI from 0.66 to 0.77). Our findings demonstrate the importance of considering management strategies (herding, grazing seasons) that affect riparian use by cattle, in tandem with weather, pasture characteristics, and other factors, and can be used in decision support systems to guide riparian grazing management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"98 ","pages":"Pages 419-431"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142746830","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Postfire Seeding of Native Compared With Introduced Bunchgrasses Followed 3 Yr Later With Invasive Annual Grass Control","authors":"Kirk W. Davies,&nbsp;Chad S. Boyd,&nbsp;Lauren N. Svejcar,&nbsp;Jon D. Bates","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.030","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.030","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Invasive annual grasses threaten the ecological integrity of the sagebrush ecosystem, often increasing when wildfires or other disturbances reduce perennial vegetation. In response to this threat, perennial bunchgrasses are often seeded after wildfire. Because of greater success in establishment, introduced bunchgrasses are often selected for seeding instead of commercially available native bunchgrasses. However, locally sourced native bunchgrasses appear to establish better than generally expected for commercially available native bunchgrasses but introduced bunchgrasses still establish better and result in greater suppression of invasive annual grasses. In areas where native bunchgrasses have been established from seeding but annual grass abundance remains high, selective control of annual grasses may improve success. Comparisons between areas where locally sourced native and introduced bunchgrasses were seeded and established, followed by annual grass control, are lacking. We investigated vegetation characteristics in areas drill-seeded with introduced compared with locally sourced native bunchgrasses after a wildfire that received selective annual grass control (imazapic application) 3 yr after seeding. Treatments that were seeded with locally sourced native or introduced bunchgrasses followed by spraying imazapic increased bunchgrass cover and density compared with areas not seeded but sprayed with imazapic. Bunchgrass cover and density were greater in areas seeded with introduced compared with native bunchgrasses and sprayed with imazapic. Invasive annual grass abundance was reduced with seeding introduced bunchgrasses followed with imazapic application, but not with seeding locally sourced native bunchgrasses followed with spraying imazapic. These results suggest that locally sourced native bunchgrasses have the potential for restoration success, but research needs to determine what follow-up treatments (e.g., additional seeding, longer-term annual grass control, and more diverse seed mixes) are needed to further promote perennial vegetation abundance and increase resistance to annual grasses to achieve similar outcomes as seeding introduced bunchgrasses.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"98 ","pages":"Pages 146-154"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142745710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Plant Richness, Species Assessment, and Ecology in the M'goun Geopark Rangelands, High Atlas Mountains, Morocco","authors":"Youssef Gharnit ,&nbsp;Abdelaziz Moujane ,&nbsp;Aboubakre Outourakhte ,&nbsp;Ikhmerdi Hassan ,&nbsp;Kaoutar El Amraoui ,&nbsp;Aziz Hasib ,&nbsp;Abdelali Boulli","doi":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.022","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.rama.2024.08.022","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Moroccan rangelands face significant threats, yet their species assessment and ecology remain understudied. Hence, the M'Goun Geopark was selected as a case study. Species were sampled using the stratified sampling approach combined with floristic habitat sampling. Nonparametric diversity and evenness indices were employed to estimate diversity. Subsequently, species were evaluated against IUCN status, endemism, and rarity. Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) and hierarchical clustering techniques were applied to explore plant communities. Concurrently, the ecology of these rangeland communities was examined. The Geopark rangelands support exceptional biodiversity, harboring 12.03% of Morocco's plant species, totaling 509 species. The Asteraceae family is the most prominent, followed by the Fabaceae and Poaceae. The nonparametric estimator Chao 2 estimates 543.24 species, and Jackknife 1 estimates 566.48 species. In addition, the assessment revealed the precarious state of biodiversity in the Geopark. A concerning 27.73% of the assessed species are threatened according to the IUCN, and a significant portion (74.45%) lack proper evaluation. The endemism rate is 21%, with nearly half (49.5%) of these endemic species restricted solely to Morocco. Rarity criteria indicate a 17.43% rarity rate, including 8.4% considered very rare, 4.42% rare, 8.78% suspected rare, and three vulnerable. These species form 13 associations within the <em>QUERCETEA ILICIS</em> class, distributed across various ecological conditions and occupying elevations between 540 m and 3700 m. The bioclimate ranges from semi-arid to subhumid. Climate parameters vary considerably, with precipitation ranging from 247.13 mm to 733.83 mm, Tmin oscillating from -0.65°C to 12.69°C, and Tmax spanning between 11.42°C and 25.66°C. The associations occupy Thermomediterranean to Oromediterranean vegetation levels, particularly in limestone, clay, and sandstone substrates. Our findings reveal that these rangelands are at the epicenter of Anthropocene challenges, particularly concerning biodiversity decline, as numerous species face threats and vulnerability. Consequently, urgent conservation and monitoring plans are essential.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49634,"journal":{"name":"Rangeland Ecology & Management","volume":"98 ","pages":"Pages 357-376"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142746677","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}