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Browsing by Author "Fuhlendorf, Samuel D."

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    The Birds and the Bees: Producing Beef and Conservation Benefits on Working Grasslands
    Keyser, Patrick D.; Buehler, David A.; Fike, John H.; Finke, Deborah L.; Fuhlendorf, Samuel D.; Martin, James A.; Naumann, Harley D.; Smith, S. Ray (MDPI, 2022-08-17)
    Globally, grasslands have been heavily degraded, more so than any other biome. Grasslands of the eastern U.S. are no exception to this trend and, consequently, native biota associated with the region’s >20 million ha of agricultural grasslands are under considerable stress. For example, grassland associated breeding bird populations have declined precipitously in recent decades as have numerous species of pollinators. Although there is increasing awareness of the role grasslands can play in global carbon cycles and in providing high quality dietary proteins needed by an increasing global population, there is a lack of awareness of the alarming trends in the sustainability of the native biota of these ecosystems. Here, we present the status of this conservation challenge and offer prospective solutions through a working lands conservation approach. Such a strategy entails maintaining appropriate disturbances (i.e., grazing, fire, and their combination), improved grazing management, an increased reliance on native grasses and forbs, and improved plant diversity within pastures. Furthermore, we note some examples of opportunities to achieve these goals, offer suggestions for agricultural and conservation policy, and provide a framework for evaluating tradeoffs that are inevitably required when pursuing a multi-purpose grassland management framework.
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    Relationship with the land as a foundation for ecosystem stewardship
    Sorice, Michael G.; Rajala, Kiandra; Brown, Bryan L.; Masterson, Vanessa A.; Fuhlendorf, Samuel D. (Wiley, 2023-06)
    We examined the hypothesis that adapting to ecosystem change on working landscapes can be enhanced by supporting the place-based stewardship values of landowners. On the basis of responses to a survey of more than 500 landowners across a landscape dominated by working lands, we clustered landowners into five groups based on their sense of place meanings. Relationships with the land are differentiated by the degree to which an owner's land makes positive contributions to well-being and the degree to which the land supports livelihoods. Positive contributions to well-being are related to stronger stewardship-oriented management styles, yet a combination of well-being and livelihood dependence is most closely related to increased sensitivity to ecosystem transformation. In a social-ecological system dominated by private lands, understanding an individual's relationship with the land is central to understanding adaptive capacity and for identifying policy options to successfully respond to ecological transformation.