Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Rangeland Resources & Systems Research » Research » Research Project #427443

Research Project: Collaborative Long-Term Agro-ecosystem Research (LTAR) Efforts: Livestock Grazing in Rangelands and Pastures

Location: Rangeland Resources & Systems Research

Project Number: 3012-21610-003-009-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 1, 2014
End Date: Aug 30, 2019

Objective:
Sustain or enhance productivity, profitability, and ecosystem services in agro-ecosystems and agricultural landscapes, with an emphasis on livestock grazing in rangelands and pastures.

Approach:
The Archbold Biological Station, located in Venus, Florida and ARS will collaborate in Long-Term Agro-Ecosystem Research (LTAR) network efforts regarding sustaining or enhancing productivity, profitability, and ecosystem services in agro-ecosystems and agricultural landscapes, with an emphasis on livestock grazing in rangelands and pastures. The Long-Term Agro-Ecosystem Research (LTAR) network, currently consisting of 18 sites across the US, is emphasizing network efforts on collection of a core set of measurements as outlined in the LTAR Shared Research Strategy ( (http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Program/211/LTAR%20SRS%20-%20Final%20Version%20-%20130905.pdf), including, but not limited to, efforts related to measurements for plants and animals, geography, weather, water, soil, air, management and socioeconomics. Some examples of specific measurements include greenhouse gases (GHGs) for the Greenhouse Reduction through Agricultural Carbon Enhancement network (GRACEnet), net primary productivity, secondary primary productivity (if available, in this case both sites are collecting livestock gain production data), atmospheric deposition, and ecosystem fluxes of water and carbon through Eddy Covariance tower systems. Scientists/ staff at Archbold Biological Station will collaborate with scientists/staff in the Rangeland Resources Research Unit on data related to livestock grazing management effects (both “conventional management or business as usual” and “alternatively/adaptively managed production system”) in rangelands and pastures, primarily related to examining effects of seasonal weather variability, extreme events, and predicted climatic variability on agricultural production and ecosystem services. For example, data sets area available to evaluate economic consequences of intra- and inter-annual variability in forage and livestock production across rangelands and pastures in the LTAR network. Equipment will be needed at Archbold for collection of GHGs, ecosystem fluxes of water and carbon (via Eddy Covariance systems) and atmospheric deposition.