Rangelands of the western Great Plains of North America are complex social-ecological systems where management objectives for livestock production, grassland bird conservation, and vegetation structure and composition converge. The Collaborative Adaptive Rangeland Management (CARM) experiment is a 10-year collaborative adaptive management (CAM) project initiated in 2012 that is aimed at fostering science-management partnerships and data-driven rangeland management through a participatory, multistakeholder approach. This study evaluates the decision-making process that emerged from the first 4 yr of CARM. Our objectives were to 1) document how diverse stakeholder experiences, epistemologies, and resulting knowledge contributed to the CARM project, 2) evaluate how coproduced knowledge informed management decision making through three grazing seasons, and 3) explore the implications of participation in the CARM project for rangeland stakeholders. We evaluated management decision making as representatives from government agencies and conservation nongovernmental organizations, ranchers, and interdisciplinary researchers worked within the CARM experiment to 1) prioritize desired ecosystem services; 2) determine objectives; 3) set stocking rates, criteria for livestock movement among pastures, and vegetation treatments; and 4) select monitoring techniques that would inform decision making. For this paper, we analyzed meeting transcripts, interviews, and focus group data related to stakeholder group decision making. We find two key lessons from the CARM project. First, the CAM process makes visible, but does not reconcile differences between, stakeholder experiences and ways of knowing about complex rangeland systems. Second, social learning in CAM is contingent on the development of trust among stakeholder and researcher groups. We suggest future CAM efforts should 1) make direct efforts to share and acknowledge managers’ different rangeland management experiences, epistemologies, and knowledge and 2) involve long-term research commitment in time and funding to social, as well as experimental, processes that promote trust building among stakeholders and researchers over time.

Due to their complex structure and traditional low-intensity management, Portuguese oak woodland rangelands known as montados are often considered high nature value (HNV) farming systems, and as such, they may be deemed eligible for subsidies and incentives by governmental and nongovernmental agencies. Too little is known about how the HNV concept might be applied to conserve complex silvopastoral systems. These systems, due to their structural and functional complexity at multiple scales, tend to support high levels of biodiversity. Montados are in sharp decline as a result of the rapid specialization of land management that, through simplification, undermines multifunctionality. Understanding how changes in management influence these systems and their biodiversity is needed for prioritizing conservation efforts and for ensuring they remain HNV systems. On the basis of a field survey in 58 plots distributed among 29 paddocks on 17 farms, we conducted an integrated analysis of the relationship between grazing intensity and biodiversity in montados of similar biophysical and structural characteristics. Data on management were obtained through interviews, and biodiversity data (vegetation, macrofungi, birds, herpetofauna) were obtained through specific field protocols. Additional spatial data, such as soil characteristics, slope, land cover, and linear landscape elements, were also analyzed. The results show no overall biodiversity variation as a result of different management practices. However, different groups of species react differently to specific management practices, and within a pasture, grazing impacts are heterogenous. In low grazing intensity plots, macrofungi species richness was found to be higher, while bird species richness was lower. Using tree regeneration as proxy for montado sustainability, results show less tree regeneration in areas with higher forage quality and more intense grazing. Pathways for future progress are proposed, including creating areas within a paddock that attract grazing away from where regeneration is desired.

The ecological impacts of rangeland invasive plants have been widely documented, but the social aspects of how managers perceive their impacts and options for control have been relatively understudied, and successful, long-term invasive plant management programs are limited. In particular, though a growing body of research has identified livestock grazing as the most practical and economical tool for controlling invasive rangeland plants, to date there has not been a systematic assessment of the challenges and opportunities producers and other land managers see as most important when considering using livestock to manage invasive plants. In-depth, semistructured interviews with California annual grass and hardwood rangeland ranchers, public agency personnel, and nongovernmental organization land managers were used to address this need. Although interviewees broadly agreed that grazing could be an effective management tool, differences emerged among the three groups in how they prioritized invasive plant control, the amount of resources devoted to control, and the grazing strategies employed. Interviewees identified key challenges that hinder broad-scale adoption of control efforts, including the potential incompatibility of invasive plant management and livestock production; a lack of secure, long-term access to land for many ranchers; incomplete or insufficient information, such as the location or extent of infestations or the economic impacts to operations of invasive plants; and the temporal and spatial variability of the ecosystem. By identifying key socioecological drivers that influence the degree to which livestock are used to manage invasive plants, this study was able to identify potential pathways to move our growing understanding of the science of targeted grazing into practice. Research, extension, and grazing programs that address these barriers should help increase the extent to which we can effectively use livestock to slow and perhaps reverse the spread of some of our most serious rangeland weeds.

Extensive range-based livestock production has suffered a sharp decrease in Mediterranean Spain in recent decades due to two opposing trends in land use: progressive abandonment of practices in marginal rural areas and land use intensification in more productive areas. In this study, we explored the visions of key stakeholders on the current and future situation of silvopastoral systems in the Sierra Morena mountain range of southern Spain, where extensive livestock grazing is declining because of competition with other more profitable activities, such as intensive olive groves and game hunting. We performed a discourse analysis using Q methodology and evaluated the existing relationships of information exchange and conflict among local institutions such as farmer's associations, the provincial council, and conservation organizations using social network analysis. Semistructured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders representing local formal and nonformal institutions involved in extensive livestock production. Results showed three distinct discourses among stakeholders related to profitability, conservation, and modernization. There was a strong consensus on the management strategies that should be promoted to support extensive livestock production and preserve the associated silvopastoral systems. Social networks revealed high cohesion and communication exchange and a low level of conflict among stakeholders, with few exceptions. The low influence of livestock producers on policy decision making largely hinders the development of participatory management schemes. Nevertheless, similarities among the visions and opinions of different institutions suggest that new possibilities might emerge for silvopastoral systems through the collaboration among the different socioeconomic sectors present in the area.

Rangelands with scattered trees are complex and dynamic systems with a long history in Europe. Generally referred to as “wood-pastures,” they are considered to have outstanding conservation value. Thorny shrubs are important for supporting the biodiversity of these wooded rangelands, as well as facilitating the regeneration of trees by acting as nurse species. We assess the direct effects of temporary shrub encroachment under the cover of mature sparse trees on overall plant and habitat diversity. We surveyed the herb layer of the main landscape features of a wood-pasture: open pasture, trees with a grass understory, trees with shrubs, and adjacent forest edges. The herb layer under trees with shrubs resembled that of forest edges more than open pastures and trees with grass. Trees with grass had a higher cover of ruderal species than trees with shrubs, while forest edges and open pastures had a lower cover of them. Forest species were absent from open pastures but were well represented in the other sites. The herb layer of trees with shrubs and forest edges had similar cover values, while trees with grass had a significantly lower cover of herbs than the other types. Trees with shrubs had higher species richness than any of the other three landscape features and had a much higher proportion of diagnostic species. We conclude that the scattered trees and shrubs of the studied silvopastoral system have additive facilitative effects on their understory, probably through modifying the microenvironment and grazing pressure, leading to the formation of temporary diversity hot spots with distinct vegetation. Thus maintaining a moderate level of shrub-encroachment under sparse trees is recommended for not only creating safe havens for tree recruitment but also increasing the overall species and habitat diversity of wood-pastures.

The wood pastures or hardwood rangelands of the southwestern Iberian Peninsula are complex social-ecological systems created from the long-term interaction of society and the landscape. Dehesa, oak woodlands managed for grazing, cropping, and other forms of production, is the most common rangeland system and one of the most distinctive landscapes. Traditionally characterized by multifunctional low-intensity management that enhances a wide range of ecosystem services, current management has shifted from the traditional toward more intensified models. This paper assesses the coproduction of ecosystem services on dehesa properties by exploring the relationship between biophysical and sociocultural factors and dehesa management practices. Based on 42 surveys we analyze 16 quantitative indicators using multivariate techniques. The results indicate that there are four main dehesa types as defined by their characteristics and management: large heterogeneous operations with diverse products; small and homogeneous operations focused on a reduced number of products; medium-large properties focused on crop production; and midsized properties with easy public access. Management is the result of the dynamics of interacting biophysical and sociocultural factors that influence manager priorities and investments. Management decisions group around the degree of multifunctionality of the operation, the relative importance of crop production, the degree of grazing pressure in the system, and how restrictive public access policy is. We find that in the study area, interactions between all the previously mentioned elements covary consistently, generating bundles of ecosystem services associated with each of three management models based on the intensity of management.

Assessments of society's perceptions of rangeland systems offer insights into the motivations, cultural beliefs, and values that can support landscape conservation and the everyday decisions of landowners. Silvo-pastoral landscapes, the grazed oak woodlands known as montado in Portugal and dehesa in Spain, are the main rangelands of southwestern Iberia. At the interface of complex interactions between natural processes and human activities, they have potential to deliver multiple services at the ecosystem level. However, the actual rendering of their potential to the well-being of contemporary society has not been comprehensively documented. This paper aims to enrich research perspectives and identify benefits and challenging aspects of silvo-pastoral landscapes through the lens of society well-being. An integrated socioecological perspective is used to examine one case study in Portugal and one in Spain. To better understand their context, montado and dehesa are assessed relative to other landscape types in the studied areas. A qualitative approach assesses tangible but also intangible aspects. The interviewed stakeholders include members of rural communities, public authorities, land managers, and researchers. Results reveal similar benefits and challenges in montado and dehesa. Interviewees considered them to have numerous sociocultural and environmental benefits. These were mainly regulatory services but also intangible benefits such as cultural identity, aesthetic qualities, and local knowledge. Nevertheless, a rendering of their full potential to society well-being has numerous challenges. These systems were believed to struggle economically, due to the low prices for the goods produced and a high dependence on subsidies. Their environmental vulnerability was also highlighted. Critical challenges for future research and policy interventions are identified for both case studies. Moreover, we encourage the wider application of approaches to rangelands focusing on well-being, as they provide a complement to ecological and economic perspectives that can improve understanding of social-ecological systems.