Application of Vulnerability Assessment to a Grazed Rangeland: Toward an Integrated Conceptual Framework

Abstract

Rangeland vulnerability assessments have the potential to function as conceptual tools for policymakers and rangeland users to ensure the sustainable management of vulnerable rangelands. This contribution reviews the different approaches to conceptualizing vulnerability assessments in order to introduce an initial framework for how to construct rangeland vulnerability assessments. We present a conceptual framework for designing a rangeland vulnerability assessment that captures a suite of both socioeconomic and biophysical variables. This framework also facilitates the incorporation of the local knowledge of rangeland experts and users for further refinement of a rangeland vulnerability assessment applied in a specific locale. © 2017 The Society for Range Management