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Several journals and magazines produced at the University of Arizona, or by groups affiliated with the University, are shared, preserved and archived in the UA Campus Repository.
The University Libraries also publishes several journals using the Janeway platform. Those publications are available at https://journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu.
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Please contact the Scholarly Communication Unit at repository@u.library.arizona.edu with your questions about journals and magazines in the UA Campus Repository, or if you are affiliated with the University of Arizona and are interested in archiving your journal or magazine in the repository or exploring our other journal publishing services.
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Recent Submissions
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Why we should consider cattle partners• Other worldviews offer alternative ways of thinking and being in relation to food animals. • Embracing complexities in our relationship with cattle could be a starting point for resolving common, and sometimes contentious paradoxes in our industry. • Heart-centered connections we have with food animals are somehow taboo and left out of our research, professional conversations, and communication with broader society. • Shifting our language around cattle to consider them “partners” could be transformative. • Our work may benefit from intentionality, humility, and acknowledgement of our symbiosis with cattle and the natural world. © 2022 The Author(s)
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Why has the adoption of rotational grazing declined in parts of the United States?• Conservation policies promote sustainable grasslands management practices, like rotational or management-intensive (RMI) grazing, in the United States. • The self-reported adoption of RMI grazing declined in the United States between 2007 and 2017, and few studies have investigated this trend. • We use panel data to estimate county-level fixed effects regressions to assess if changes in the size of cattle operations are influencing this trend. We estimate a regression for the United States, as well as regressions by Climate Hub region. • We find nationally, as well as within six of the eight Climate Hub regions, an increase in cattle operations with <20 head leads to a smaller increase in RMI grazing relative to an increase in cattle operations with 20-199 head. However, this effect is reversed in the Northeast. • Nationally, we find similar effects on RMI grazing among cattle operations with 20-199 head and ≥200 head. Still, in two of the Climate Hub regions (Midwest and Southeast), cattle operations with 20-199 head lead to greater RMI grazing adoption than cattle operations with ≥200 head. Thus, declines in RMI grazing are most strongly associated with declines in small and medium-sized cattle operations. © 2023
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The search for relationships between soil health and ranch-level economic outcomes – A case study on California rangelands• Conservation advisors often want to know about the economics/profitability of soil health practices in grazing systems; however, relationships between soil health management and economic outcomes are lacking in grazing systems. • We present a recent case study of California rangelands to demonstrate the challenges associated with determining economics/profitability of soil health practices in grazing systems. • We found online tools available for researchers and conservation advisors to better understand soil health and forage production changes over time, but better on-the-ground information is still needed to estimate economic outcomes. • Conservation groups and government agencies can play a role in quantifying economic outcomes by recording and sharing types of livestock management, length of management, and pre- and post-management soil health data. © 2023 The Society for Range Management
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Sustaining rangelands in the 21st century• The major threats to sustaining rangelands in the 21st century are climate and land-use change, both of which originate outside of rangelands themselves. • Society's demands on rangelands have shifted away from livestock production and toward services and disservices such as climate mitigation and greenhouse gas emissions. • Sustaining rangelands in the United States depends on sustainability of the larger beef production system, including crop agriculture, feeding, and finishing. • Understanding the history of the beef system helps identify strategies and priorities for sustaining rangelands and meeting society's evolving demands. © 2022 The Author(s)
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Survey of rancher grazing management practices in extensive rangeland production systems of the Central Coast of California• Because of the diverse rangeland ecosystems across California and in the Central Coast region, producers employed a wide array of grazing management practices to best benefit the goals of their operation. • Top priority grazing goals include fire suppression and cattle health, while the lowest priority includes increased forage species diversity and wildlife management. • Producers indicated they monitored the grazing behavior of their cattle and used mineral and protein supplementation. • We discovered three themes among the qualitative interviews that drove grazing management decision-making among producer respondents: specific characteristics of the managed rangelands, reactions to and planning for extreme weather patterns and natural disasters, and concerns about the divide between rural and urban understanding of management of California rangelands. • Most producers responded that their grazing management systems were successful, and their grazing management methodology was dependent on the specific landscape and ownership/management of the land. © 2023 The Author(s)
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Statistical considerations of using the 1-ft2 quadrat for monitoring peak standing crop and residual dry matter on California annual rangelands• Peak standing crop (PSC) and residual dry matter (RDM) are the primary measures of production and grazing intensity on California's annual rangelands. • One of the most common methods of monitoring forage metrics is to clip 1-ft2 quadrats. The USDA Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, universities, and other land managers have been using this methodology since the 1930s. • We used best linear unbiased predictors (BLUEs) to determine 95% confidence intervals for PSC and RDM. For both PSC and RDM, as the number of samples taken increased from 1 to 10, the predictive ability also significantly increased. We found no evidence of increased predictive power past 10 samples. © 2023 The Authors
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Quantifying the effects of vegetation productivity and drought scenarios on livestock production decisions and income• The amount of available summer forage for livestock is becoming more uncertain under a changing climate. • Remote sensing estimates of herbaceous biomass production are becoming more readily available for managers and scientists, making assessments of available forage across large regions possible. • We coupled remotely sensed forage estimates with a ranch-level economic model to assess the effects of drought (short and long term) on several key economic factors in the future. • Our findings indicate forage productivity is tightly linked to mean annual temperature, vapor pressure deficit, and precipitation, and both drought scenarios resulted in significant economic effects at the ranch level (i.e., up to 32.1% losses in net income over a 40-year timespan). • Even though our established drought scenarios are hypothetical, the coupling of remote sensing data with economic models further increases the understanding of the effects of a changing climate on rangeland productivity and can ultimately improve implementation of adaptive rangeland management strategies. © 2023 The Society for Range Management
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Managing an arid ranch in the 21st century: New technologies for novel ecosystems• Rates of ecosystem change are accelerating in rangelands, but development of technologies to detect and react to change is accelerating at the same time. • New management frameworks, including novel ecosystems and Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) provide new ways of thinking about management strategies. • We describe how we are integrating several digital tools and new management frameworks on the Jornada Experimental Range as an example to help land managers imagine how these tools might be applied in their contexts. © 2023
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Leveraging social science research to advance contemporary rangeland management: Understanding the “new faces” of range managers• Rangeland management research has historically focused on the ecological dimensions of these unique ecosystems, but the social dimensions of rangeland management have been understudied. • Considering rangelands as complex socio-ecological systems, we offer a framework to provide insights into how increased engagement of social science research can improve the management of contemporary rangeland ecosystems. • We posit the framework within shifting socio-demographic conditions experienced in contemporary rangeland systems, which include an increasing diversity in the socio-demographics of rangeland managers; an increasing number of younger ranchers inheriting or purchasing ranches from aging ranchers; and an increasing presence of exurban migrants moving from cities to rural areas. • Within this context, our framework centers its attention on contemporary rangeland managers and discusses their relationship with different relevant social institutions and natural resources while offering insights on how social science research can facilitate a better understanding and more up-to-date information concerning these relationships. © 2022 The Society for Range Management
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Integrating concepts of ecological sites, state-and-transition models, rangeland health, and NRCS conservation planning• Resource managers are challenged to inventory and assess the condition of rangeland ecosystems, determine any existing management problems, implement management plans developed to correct problems and improve conditions, and predict and monitor changes in conditions. • Ecological site descriptions, state-and-transition models, and rangeland health assessments are three powerful tools to help managers understand current and potential conditions, describe resource concerns, and develop conservation plans to achieve desired conditions. • Resource concern risk ratings are a new feature of ecological site descriptions that enhance the integration of these tools and resources. © 2023
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Design thinking for responsible Agriculture 4.0 innovations in rangelandsAgriculture is undergoing a rapid shift with the integration of digital technologies, resulting in a new form of production, “Agriculture 4.0” integrates not only sensors and robotics, but also the internet of things, cloud computing, data analytics, and decision support systems. • The use of digital technologies for production of grazing land is generally referred to as Precision Livestock Farming (PLF). • We provide a review and synthesis of design processes, with a focus on the human-centered design process and the Responsible Innovation Framework—to provide insights to guide research and development of PLF technologies in rangelands. • We describe the six stages of a “Design Thinking” process (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test, and assess) and highlight the dimensions of the Responsible Innovation Framework (anticipation, inclusion, reflexivity, responsiveness, and equity) that are important at each step of the process. • We present a case study of the Sustainable Southwest Beef Project and their translational approach to science to provide an example of a PLF design process and highlight what others may learn from those experiences. © 2023 The Authors
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Ecological resistance and resilience in rangelands• Resistance and resilience are commonly used terms in discussions about agriculture and future ecological conditions. • We provide a common understanding of these terms as they apply to the ecology of grazed systems. • We discuss the relationship between ecological resistance and resilience, disturbances, and ecological processes. • We present examples of how to make what is known about ecological resistance and resilience in grazed ecosystems accessible to planners and their clients. © 2023 The Author(s)
