Rangeland Systems : : Processes, Management and Challenges.

• Superior document: Springer Series on Environmental Management Series
• Author: Briske, David D.
• Place / Publishing House: Cham : : Springer International Publishing AG,, 2017.; ©2017.
• Year of Publication: 2017
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Springer Series on Environmental Management Series
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (664 pages)

Table of Contents

• Intro
• Preface
• Contents
• Contributors
• Chapter 1: Rangeland Systems: Foundation for a Conceptual Framework
• 1.1 Introduction
• 1.2 Extent, Distribution, and Societal Value
• 1.3 Events Contributing to Rapid Conceptual Advancement
• 1.3.1 Internal to the Profession
• 1.3.2 External to Profession
• 1.4 Section Perspectives
• 1.4.1 Processes Section
• 1.4.2 Management Section
• 1.4.3 Challenges Section
• 1.5 Foundation for a Rangeland Systems Framework
• 1.6 Summary
• References
• Section I: Processes
• Chapter 2: Woody Plant Encroachment: Causes and Consequences
• 2.1 Introduction
• 2.2 Rates of Change
• 2.3 Factors Influencing Abundance of Woody Plants
• 2.3.1 Herbivory: Grazers and Browsers
• 2.3.2 Climate
• 2.3.3 Topography and Soils
• 2.3.4 Increased Atmospheric CO2
• 2.4 Population Interactions Between Grasses and Woody Plants
• 2.4.1 Establishment of Woody Plant Seedlings
• 2.4.2 Transitioning from Saplings to Adults
• 2.4.3 Woody Plant Carrying Capacity
• 2.4.4 Why Do So Few Woody Species Proliferate in Grasslands?
• 2.5 Ecosystem Services
• 2.5.1 Carbon Sequestration: Plant and Soil Pools
• 2.5.2 Hydrology
• 2.5.3 Biodiversity
• 2.5.3.1 Herbaceous Vegetation
• 2.5.3.2 Animals
• 2.6 Management Perspectives
• 2.7 Future Perspectives
• 2.8 Summary
• 2.8.1 Causes
• 2.8.2 Consequences for Ecosystem Services
• 2.8.3 Management
• References
• Chapter 3: Ecohydrology: Processes and Implications for Rangelands
• 3.1 Introduction
• 3.2 Ecosystem Services
• 3.2.1 Regulating Services: Water Distribution and Purification
• 3.2.1.1 Infiltration: Water Regulation at the Soil Surface
• 3.2.2 Overland Flow: Regulation at the Hillslope Scale
• 3.2.3 Drainage: Water Regulation Within the Soil
• 3.2.4 Riparian Systems: Regulation at the Watershed Scale.
• 3.2.5 Regulation in Groundwater-Coupled Rangelands
• 3.2.5.1 Vegetation Dynamics Affect Groundwater Consumption
• 3.2.5.2 Land Use/Management Affects Groundwater Consumption
• 3.3 Regulating Services: Climate Regulation
• 3.4 Supporting Services: Water Cycling and Protection Against Erosion
• 3.4.1 Water Cycling: With a Focus on E vs. T
• 3.4.2 Protection of Soils Against Erosion and Degradation
• 3.4.2.1 Understanding the Importance of Vegetation Patch Structure
• 3.4.2.2 Wind and Water Erosion
• 3.5 Provisioning Services: Water Supply
• 3.6 Observational and Conceptual Advances
• 3.6.1 Observational Advances
• 3.6.1.1 Remote Sensing for Investigating Components of the Water Budget
• 3.6.1.2 In Situ Methods for Measuring Components of the Water Budget
• Partitioning of Evapotranspiration
• Monitoring of Soil Moisture
• 3.7 Conceptual Advances
• 3.7.1 Spatial Variability and Scale
• 3.7.2 Ecological Threshold and Feedback Mechanisms
• 3.7.3 Hydrological Connectivity
• 3.8 Future Perspectives
• 3.9 Summary
• References
• Chapter 4: Soil and Belowground Processes
• 4.1 Introduction
• 4.2 Major Conceptual Advances
• 4.2.1 Community Composition and Function
• 4.2.1.1 Soil-Plant Interactions
• 4.2.1.2 Biological Soil Crusts
• 4.2.1.3 Soil Microbial Diversity and Function
• 4.2.2 Ecosystem Processes
• 4.2.2.1 Water
• 4.2.2.2 Decomposition
• 4.2.2.3 Rhizosphere Dynamics
• 4.2.2.4 Carbon Dynamics
• 4.2.2.5 Nitrogen Dynamics
• 4.3 Anthropogenic Impacts and Societal Implications
• 4.3.1 Responses to Land-Use Change
• 4.3.2 Responses to Invasive Species
• 4.3.3 Responses to Global Climate Change
• 4.3.3.1 Precipitation Change
• 4.3.3.2 Elevated CO2
• 4.3.3.3 Atmospheric Deposition
• 4.3.4 Restoration
• 4.4 Future Perspectives
• 4.5 Summary
• References.
• Chapter 5: Heterogeneity as the Basis for Rangeland Management
• 5.1 Introduction
• 5.2 Heterogeneity and Scale: Concepts Linking Pattern and Process
• 5.2.1 Types of Heterogeneity
• 5.2.1.1 Measured vs. Functional
• 5.2.1.2 Spatial vs. Temporal
• 5.2.2 Sources of Heterogeneity
• 5.2.2.1 Inherent Heterogeneity
• 5.2.2.2 Disturbance-Driven Heterogeneity
• 5.3 Heterogeneity and Rangeland Function: Three Major Cases
• 5.3.1 Heterogeneity and Herbivore Populations
• 5.3.2 Fire and Rangeland Ecosystems
• 5.3.2.1 Heterogeneity and the Shifting Mosaic
• 5.3.3 Heterogeneity of Fuel and Fire Effects
• 5.3.4 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function
• 5.4 Future Perspectives
• 5.5 Summary
• References
• Chapter 6: Nonequilibrium Ecology and Resilience Theory
• 6.1 Introduction
• 6.2 Conceptual Advances
• 6.2.1 Equilibrium and Nonequilibrium Ecology
• 6.2.2 Engineering Versus Ecological Resilience
• 6.2.3 Drivers, Controlling Variables, and Feedback Mechanisms
• 6.2.4 Threshold Indicators
• 6.2.5 Rethinking Rangeland Ecology
• 6.2.5.1 Range Model
• 6.2.5.2 Nonequilibrium Persistent Model
• 6.2.5.3 The State-and-Transition Model
• 6.2.6 What Has Been Learned?
• 6.3 Resilience of Social-Ecological Systems
• 6.3.1 Resilience Thinking
• 6.3.1.1 Social Resilience
• 6.3.1.2 Adaptive Capacity and Social Learning
• 6.3.1.3 Anticipating System Transformation
• 6.3.2 Resilience-Based Governance and Policy
• 6.3.3 Resilience Analysis and Management
• 6.3.4 What Has Been Learned?
• 6.4 Future Perspectives
• 6.4.1 Heterogeneity and Livestock-Vegetation Dynamics
• 6.4.2 Procedures to Implement Resilience-Based Management
• 6.4.3 Recognizing and Guiding Transformation
• 6.4.4 Institutional Reorganization to Promote Resilience
• 6.5 Summary
• References
• Chapter 7: Ecological Consequences of Climate Change on Rangelands.
• 7.1 Introduction
• 7.2 Recent Climatic Trends: A Climate Change Signature
• 7.3 Climate Change Projections
• 7.4 Key Scientific Principles for Projecting Climate Change Impacts
• 7.4.1 Magnified Greenhouse Effects Are Irreversible
• 7.4.2 Ecological Consequences of Climate Change Will Vary Regionally
• 7.4.3 Climate Drivers Have Unique but Potentially Interactive Effects on Plants and Ecosystem Processes
• 7.4.4 Rangelands Will Respond Strongly to Driver Effects on Soil Water Availability
• 7.4.5 Soil Nitrogen (N) Availability both Regulates the Response of Plant Productivity (NPP) to Climate Change Drivers and Is Affected by Drivers
• 7.4.6 Ecosystem Responses to Climate Change Drivers Vary Because of Differences in Management Practices and Historical Land-Use Patterns
• 7.4.7 Climate Change Drivers Affect Livestock Production both Directly and Indirectly
• 7.4.8 Climate Change Indirectly Affects Vegetation Composition and Structure by Influencing Fire Regimes
• 7.4.9 Climate Change May Lead to Communities That Are Unlike any Found Today, with Important Consequences for Ecosystem Function and Management
• 7.4.10 Increased Climatic Variability Increases Fluctuations in Ecological Systems, Rendering Sustainable Management More Difficult
• 7.5 An Assessment of Climate Change Scenarios
• 7.5.1 Warmer, Drier Climate Scenario
• 7.5.2 Warmer, Wetter Winters Scenario
• 7.5.3 Warmer, Wetter Growing Season Scenario
• 7.6 Knowledge Gaps
• 7.7 Summary
• References
• Section II: Management
• Chapter 8: Rangelands as Social-Ecological Systems
• 8.1 Introduction: What Is a Social-Ecological System?
• 8.1.1 Conceptualizing SESs
• 8.1.2 Scale
• 8.1.3 Feedbacks
• 8.1.4 Resilience and Adaptability
• 8.2 Environmental Governance
• 8.3 Case Studies
• 8.3.1 Adaptation to Climate Change by Australian Livestock Managers.
• 8.3.2 Climate Change and Forb Restoration in the Great Basin, USA
• 8.3.3 California Black Rail Habitat in the Sierra Nevada Foothills
• 8.3.4 Nomad Sedentarization Project in Xinjiang, China
• 8.3.5 Environmental Accounting for Spanish Private Dehesa Properties
• 8.4 What Can Be Learned from These Case Studies?
• 8.5 Future Perspectives
• 8.6 Summary
• References
• Chapter 9: State and Transition Models: Theory, Applications, and Challenges
• 9.1 Introduction
• 9.2 Conceptual Advances in the Ecology of State Transitions
• 9.2.1 Transient Dynamics
• 9.2.2 State Transitions
• 9.2.3 Distinguishing Transient Dynamics from State Transitions
• 9.3 Development of State and Transition Models
• 9.3.1 Define the "Site"
• 9.3.2 Define the Alternative States
• 9.3.3 Describe Transitions
• 9.4 Development and Applications of STMs in Rangeland Management
• 9.4.1 Australia
• 9.4.1.1 History
• 9.4.1.2 Current Applications
• 9.4.2 Argentina
• 9.4.2.1 History
• 9.4.2.2 Current Applications
• 9.4.3 United States
• 9.4.3.1 History
• 9.4.3.2 Current Applications
• 9.4.4 Mongolia
• 9.4.4.1 History
• 9.4.4.2 Current Applications
• 9.4.5 Summary of STM Applications
• 9.5 Knowledge Gaps
• 9.5.1 Reference States, History, and Novel Ecosystems
• 9.5.2 Broader Representation of Ecosystem Services
• 9.5.3 Climate Change
• 9.5.4 Testable Mechanisms
• 9.5.5 Information Delivery and Use
• 9.6 Future Perspectives
• 9.6.1 Participatory Approaches to Model Development
• 9.6.2 Structured Decision-Making via State and Transition Models
• 9.6.3 Mapping State-and-Transition Model Information
• 9.7 Summary
• References
• Chapter 10: Livestock Production Systems
• 10.1 Introduction
• 10.1.1 Goals and Objectives
• 10.1.2 Global Significance of Ruminant Livestock
• 10.1.3 Global Livestock Production.
• 10.1.4 Economics of Livestock Production: The US Cattle Example.