Suchergebnisse

2016 Fall. ; Includes bibliographical references. ; Ranching social-ecological systems (SESs) in the semi-arid, western Great Plains persist under highly variable inter- and intra-annual weather conditions and globally influenced markets. Ranch spatial scales and manager decision-making processes have traditionally been excluded from conventional grazing experiments, leading to considerable debate between scientists and land mangers about grazing strategies to achieve both beef production and biodiversity conservation outcomes on rangelands. In this dissertation I use collaborative, interdisciplinary methodologies to link rangeland and grazing management decision-making processes and learning with ecological outcomes in the semi-arid rangeland social-ecological systems (SESs) of Wyoming and Colorado. Chapter 2 analyzes relationships between ranchers and rangeland ecosystems, inspired by the rise of adaptive management discourses in the natural resource management literature and informed by post-colonial and feminist scholarship. Rancher decision-making processes during and after drought can be understood through an ethic of care, as ranchers try to reduce social and ecological vulnerability through adaptation, learning, and respect over long-term (generations-long) time frames. Chapter 3 follows a participatory grazing research project, the Collaborative Adaptive Rangeland Management (CARM) experiment, for four years (2012-2016). I track the social learning processes of a group of 11 stakeholders representing 3 groups: ranchers, conservation NGOs, and public agencies. These stakeholders manage 10 experimental pastures in the shortgrass steppe with comparison to the traditional grazing management practice. These pastures are managed to maintain or improve a viable cattle operation, grassland bird diversity, and rangeland vegetation structure, composition, and cover. Decisions by the stakeholder group about grazing and prescribed burning illustrate the complex role of existing management knowledge in social learning and the outcomes of participatory rangeland research. In Chapter 4, I use repeated interviews and ecological monitoring on 17 family--owned and operated ranches in eastern Colorado and eastern Wyoming to categorize different grazing management strategies and compare plant species composition outcomes across those different strategies, accounting for environmental factors. After accounting for environmental influences, using non-metric multidimensional scaling and linear mixed models, I found a reduction of perennial cool-season grasses on ranches in higher grazing stocking rates and on cow-calf/yearling operations compared to cow-calf operations, but no significant differences in plant species composition on ranches with different grazing rotation strategies or different planning styles (tacit vs. explicit planners). I classified ranches into adaptive cycle trajectories to interpret ranch decision-making in terms of ranch SES-scale resilience. In Chapter 5, I review critical social literature to reflect on my positionality as a researcher, as well as the importance of consent and respect in social-ecological research. Findings in this dissertation provide useful information for understanding the adaptation of ranch-scale rangeland SESs. Future research or outreach projects seeking to engage with rancher stakeholders may be improved by considering complex decision-making processes, caring practices, and the stewardship ethic of ranchers. Future efforts to bring multiple public-lands stakeholder groups with different management perspectives together for adaptive management will be improved if they consider the important role of stakeholder practices and experiences with rangeland management in social learning, and commit to building trust and knowledge through engagement that extends beyond the typical 3-5 year window for grazing research projects. My investigation of ranch-SES adaptive processes illustrates diverse decision-making strategies on different ranches. More research is needed on stocking rate decision-making, including around the social and political contexts of stocking rate decisions. This work suggests that a resilience lens can contribute to existing theory on ranch adaptive decision-making. Outreach and education efforts are likely to be more successful if they consider that one size does not fit all for ranch grazing management strategies.

The ongoing devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic has brought new urgency to questions surrounding the origins, management, and complex dynamics of infectious diseases. In this mini review, we use growing international concern over the pandemic potential of emerging infectious diseases as motivation for outlining a research approach to study the emotional dimensions of animal disease management. We sketch out this important analytical terrain by first locating opportunities for literature on the biosecurization of nature to intersect with the emerging field of emotional political ecology. Second, we describe three biosecurity contexts and environmental conflicts at the wildlife-livestock interface: African swine fever in wild boar, brucellosis in elk, and pneumonia in bighorn and domestic sheep. We argue that in these "contact zones," a focus on emotions can add a new layer of explanation for analyzing the manifestations, implications, and varied experiences of biosecurity.

Access to the Internet continues to grow in rural areas, ensuring ranchers will have increasing opportunities to use the Web to find information about management practices that may provide them ecological and financial benefits. Although past studies have examined the role of the Internet in informing daily decision making by agricultural producers, no studies have focused specifically on the use of the Internet by ranchers in the western United States. This study uses a mixed-methods approach (a survey and semistructured interviews) to assess the extent and patterns of ranchers' Internet use in Colorado and Wyoming, identify barriers to greater use, and establish a typology of Web use behavior by ranchers. Our findings indicate that Internet use is widespread and that age, education, and risk tolerance predict the extent to which a rancher will rely on the Internet for dayto-day ranch management. A duster analysis delineated four distinct types of Web usage among ranchers: unin-fluenced, focused on sales and herd management, moderately influenced, and an Internet-reliant type. Outreach personnel can use this classification to determine the potential utility of digital outreach tools for their programming on the basis of their target audience and outreach topics. ; USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Invasive Species Program award titled "Ecological and Economic Risk Assessment Decision Tool for Management of Bromus tectorum Invasions" [2008-55320-04570]; Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station ; This research was funded by a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Invasive Species Program award titled "Ecological and Economic Risk Assessment Decision Tool for Management of Bromus tectorum Invasions (award 2008-55320-04570)" and the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station. ; Public domain authored by a U.S. government employee

Ranchers and pastoralists worldwide manage and depend upon resources from rangelands (which support indigenous vegetation with the potential for grazing) across Earth's terrestrial surface. In the Great Plains of North America rangeland ecology has increasingly recognized the importance of managing rangeland vegetation heterogeneity to address conservation and production goals. This paradigm, however, has limited application for ranchers as they manage extensive beef production operations under high levels of social-ecological complexity and uncertainty. We draw on the ethics of care theoretical framework to explore how ranchers choose management actions. We used modified grounded theory analysis of repeated interviews with ranchers to (1) compare rancher decision-making under relatively certain and uncertain conditions and (2) describe a typology of practices used to prioritize and choose management actions that maintain effective stewardship of these often multi-generational ranches. We contrast traditional decision-making frameworks with those described by interviewees when high levels of environmental and market uncertainty or ecological complexity led ranchers toward use of care-based, flexible and relational frameworks for decision-making. Ranchers facing complexity and uncertainty often sought "middle-ground" strategies to balance multiple, conflicting responsibilities in rangeland social-ecological systems. For example, ranchers' care-based decision-making leads to conservative stocking approaches to "manage for the middle," e.g. to limit risk under uncertain weather and forage availability conditions. Efforts to promote heterogeneity-based rangeland management for biodiversity conservation through the restoration of patch burn grazing and prairie dog conservation will require increased valuation of ranchers' care work. ; USDA-ARSUnited States Department of Agriculture (USDA); USDA-NIFA AFRIUnited States Department of Agriculture (USDA) [2009-04442, 2012-38415-20328]; Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station project [COLO0698]; Western Sustainable Agriculture, Research, and Education program [SW10-073]; Center for Collaborative Conservation Fellows Program at Colorado State University ; The authors appreciate Dr. Emily Kachergis who helped initiate the research, developed the study design and collected data in Wyoming in 2012, and Dr. Kachergis, Dr. Paul Meiman, Brad Palmer, Dr. David Briske, Dr. Tracy Hruska, Julie Kennedy, Sam Cannon and Dr. David Augustine for helpful comments on the study and/or manuscript. Research assistance provided by Pam Freeman, Nicole Kaplan and Shakota Dilley. Funding provided by: USDA-ARS; USDA-NIFA AFRI awards 2009-04442 and 2012-38415-20328, Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station project COLO0698; Western Sustainable Agriculture, Research, and Education program (Project Number SW10-073); and the Center for Collaborative Conservation Fellows Program at Colorado State University. ; Public domain authored by a U.S. government employee

This synthesis article joins the authors of the special issue "Gender perspectives in resilience, vulnerability and adaptation to global environmental change" in a common reflective dialogue about the main contributions of their papers. In sum, here we reflect on links between gender and feminist approaches to research in adaptation and resilience in global environmental change (GEC). The main theoretical contributions of this special issue are threefold: emphasizing the relevance of power relations in feminist political ecology, bringing the livelihood and intersectionality approaches into GEC, and linking resilience theories and critical feminist research. Empirical insights on key debates in GEC studies are also highlighted from the nine cases analysed, from Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Further, the special issue also contributes to broaden the gender approach in adaptation to GEC by incorporating research sites in the Global North alongside sites from the Global South. This paper examines and compares the main approaches adopted (e.g. qualitative or mixed methods) and the methodological challenges that derive from intersectional perspectives. Finally, key messages for policy agendas and further research are drawn from the common reflection.

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552 ; This synthesis article joins the authors of the special issue "Gender perspectives in resilience, vulnerability and adaptation to global environmental change" in a common reflective dialogue about the main contributions of their papers. In sum, here we reflect on links between gender and feminist approaches to research in adaptation and resilience in global environmental change (GEC). The main theoretical contributions of this special issue are threefold: emphasizing the relevance of power relations in feminist political ecology, bringing the livelihood and intersectionality approaches into GEC, and linking resilience theories and critical feminist research. Empirical insights on key debates in GEC studies are also highlighted from the nine cases analysed, from Europe,the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Further, the special issue also contributes to broaden the gender approach in adaptation to GEC by incorporating research sites in the Global North alongside sites from the Global South. This paper examines and compares the main approaches adopted (e.g. qualitative or mixed methods) and the methodological challenges that derive from intersectional perspectives. Finally, key messages for policy agendas and further research are drawn from the common reflection.

This synthesis article joins the authors of the special issue "Gender perspectives in resilience, vulnerability and adaptation to global environmental change" in a common reflective dialogue about the main contributions of their papers. In sum, here we reflect on links between gender and feminist approaches to research in adaptation and resilience in global environmental change (GEC). The main theoretical contributions of this special issue are threefold: emphasizing the relevance of power relations in feminist political ecology, bringing the livelihood and intersectionality approaches into GEC, and linking resilience theories and critical feminist research. Empirical insights on key debates in GEC studies are also highlighted from the nine cases analysed, from Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Further, the special issue also contributes to broaden the gender approach in adaptation to GEC by incorporating research sites in the Global North alongside sites from the Global South. This paper examines and compares the main approaches adopted (e.g. qualitative or mixed methods) and the methodological challenges that derive from intersectional perspectives. Finally, key messages for policy agendas and further research are drawn from the common reflection. ; Este artículo de síntesis une a los autores del número especial "Gender perspectives in resilience, vulnerability and adaptation to global environmental change" en un diálogo reflexivo común sobre las principales contribuciones de sus documentos. En resumen, aquí reflexionamos sobre los vínculos entre los enfoques feministas y de género a la investigación en adaptación y resiliencia en el cambio ambiental global (GEC). Las principales contribuciones teóricas de este número especial son tres: enfatizar la relevancia de las relaciones de poder en la ecología política feminista, incorporar los enfoques de medios de subsistencia e interseccionalidad al GEC y vincular las teorías de la resiliencia y la investigación feminista crítica. También se destacan las ideas empíricas sobre los debates clave en los estudios de GEC de los nueve casos analizados, de Europa, América, Asia, África y el Pacífico. Además, el número especial también contribuye a ampliar el enfoque de género en la adaptación a GEC mediante la incorporación de sitios de investigación en el Norte Global junto a sitios del Sur Global. Este documento examina y compara los principales enfoques adoptados (por ejemplo, los métodos cualitativos o mixtos) y los desafíos metodológicos que se derivan de las perspectivas interseccionales. Finalmente, los mensajes clave para las agendas políticas y la investigación adicional se extraen de la reflexión común. ; Aquest article de síntesi uneix els autors del número especial "Gender perspectives in resilience, vulnerability and adaptation to global environmental change" en un diàleg reflexiu comú sobre les principals contribucions dels seus documents. En resum, aquí reflexionem sobre els vincles entre els enfocaments feministes i de gènere a la investigació en adaptació i resiliència en el canvi ambiental global (GEC). Les principals contribucions teòriques d'aquest número especial són tres: emfatitzar la rellevància de les relacions de poder en l'ecologia política feminista, incorporar els enfocaments de mitjans de subsistència i interseccionalitat al GEC i vincular les teories de la resiliència i la investigació feminista crítica. També es destaquen les idees empíriques sobre els debats clau en els estudis de GEC dels nou casos analitzats, d'Europa, Amèrica, Àsia, Àfrica i el Pacífic. A més, el número especial també contribueix a ampliar l'enfocament de gènere en l'adaptació a GEC mitjançant la incorporació de llocs d'investigació al Nord Global al costat de llocs del Sud Global. Aquest document examina i compara els principals enfocaments adoptats (per exemple, els mètodes qualitatius o mixtos) i els desafiaments metodològics que es deriven de les perspectives interseccionals. Finalment, els missatges clau per a les agendes polítiques i la investigació addicional s'extreuen de la reflexió comuna.