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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Temporal Variability In Aboveground Plant Biomass Decreases As Spatial Variability Increases, Devan Allen Mcgranahan, Torre J. Hovick, R. Dwayne Elmore, David M. Engle, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Stephen L. Winter, James R. Miller, Diane M. Debinski
Temporal Variability In Aboveground Plant Biomass Decreases As Spatial Variability Increases, Devan Allen Mcgranahan, Torre J. Hovick, R. Dwayne Elmore, David M. Engle, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Stephen L. Winter, James R. Miller, Diane M. Debinski
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
Ecological theory predicts that diversity decreases variability in ecosystem function. We predict that, at the landscape scale, spatial variability created by a mosaic of contrasting patches that differ in time since disturbance will decrease temporal variability in aboveground plant biomass. Using data from a multi-year study of seven grazed tallgrass prairie landscapes, each experimentally managed for one to eight patches, we show that increased spatial variability driven by spatially patchy fire and herbivory reduces temporal variability in aboveground plant biomass. This pattern is associated with statistical evidence for the portfolio effect and a positive relationship between temporal variability and functional …
Temporal Variability In Aboveground Plant Biomass Decreases As Spatial Variability Increases, Devan Allen Mcgranahan, Torre J. Hovick, R. Dwayne Elmore, David M. Engle, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Stephen L. Winter, James R. Miller, Diane M. Debinski
Temporal Variability In Aboveground Plant Biomass Decreases As Spatial Variability Increases, Devan Allen Mcgranahan, Torre J. Hovick, R. Dwayne Elmore, David M. Engle, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Stephen L. Winter, James R. Miller, Diane M. Debinski
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
Ecological theory predicts that diversity decreases variability in ecosystem function. We predict that, at the landscape scale, spatial variability created by a mosaic of contrasting patches that differ in time since disturbance will decrease temporal variability in aboveground plant biomass. Using data from a multi-year study of seven grazed tallgrass prairie landscapes, each experimentally managed for one to eight patches, we show that increased spatial variability driven by spatially patchy fire and herbivory reduces temporal variability in aboveground plant biomass. This pattern is associated with statistical evidence for the portfolio effect and a positive relationship between temporal variability and functional …
Patch Burn‐Grazing: An Annotated Bibliography, Rajeeva Voleti, Stephen L. Winter, Sherry Leis
Patch Burn‐Grazing: An Annotated Bibliography, Rajeeva Voleti, Stephen L. Winter, Sherry Leis
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
Patch burn‐grazing is a rangeland management strategy that exploits the attraction of grazing animals to recently burned areas in order to achieve management objectives. When fire is applied to a landscape in a patchy manner, leaving some patches unburned, the resulting grazing animal activity, forage utilization, and animal impact are patchily distributed within that landscape as well. Areas that have been recently burned tend to be characterized by the highest levels of grazing animal activity while areas that have gone the longest without burning tend to be characterized by the lowest levels of grazing animal activity. This can be advantageous …
Inconsistent Outcomes Of Heterogeneity-Based Management Underscore Importance Of Matching Evaluation To Conservation Objectives, Devan Allen Mcgranahan, David M. Engle, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Stephen L. Winter, James R. Miller, Diane M. Debinski
Inconsistent Outcomes Of Heterogeneity-Based Management Underscore Importance Of Matching Evaluation To Conservation Objectives, Devan Allen Mcgranahan, David M. Engle, Samuel D. Fuhlendorf, Stephen L. Winter, James R. Miller, Diane M. Debinski
School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications
Conservation policy often incentivizes managers of human-impacted areas to create landscape heterogeneity to maximize biodiversity. In rangeland, patchy disturbance regimes create landscape heterogeneity (patch contrast), but outcomes of heterogeneity-based management are rarely tested for a universal response. We analyzed four habitat variables—vegetation structure, plant functional group composition, litter cover, and bare ground—from five experimental rangelands in Oklahoma and Iowa, USA. We tested for response consistency to heterogeneity-based management across and within locations. We calculated effect sizes for each variable to compare patch contrast on pastures managed for heterogeneity (patch burn-grazing) and pastures managed for homogeneity (grazing with homogeneous fire regimes). …