Photo gallery for "Large-scale and local climatic controls on large herbivore productivity: Implications for adaptive rangeland management"

Authors: Raynor, Edward; Derner, Justin; Hoover, David; PARTON, WILLIAM - Colorado State University; Augustine, David

Submitted to: Ecological Society of America Bulletin
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/17/2019
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: This article illustrates a long-term grazing intensity study spanning seven decades. We provide a visual snapshot of rangeland conditions which represent the cold phase Pacific Decadal Oscillation in the 1950s and the warm phase Decadal Oscillation in the 2010s.

Technical Abstract: We investigated the role of sea surface temperature anomalies, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), in concert with local precipitation in mediating large herbivore production (net secondary production) over seven decades. The variability of large herbivore production under high density was substantially greater than low density management when PDO phase was cold relative to variability under warm phase PDO. Crucially, the degree to which increased large herbivore density improved production was related to PDO phase, ENSO magnitude, prior growing season precipitation, and non-growing season precipitation, which are all climatic factors available for adaptive grazing management prior to the grazing season (e.g., April/May).