http://hdl.handle.net/10150/663691 2026-03-14T00:14:21Z http://hdl.handle.net/10150/663737 Upland Water and Deferred Rotation Effects on Cattle Use in Riparian and Upland Areas – A Reply to Carter et al. 2017 Guttery, M.R.; Caudill, D. A recent publication by Carter et al. (2017) presents research on the effects of deferred rotation grazing and water provisioning on a suite of environmental variables. We detail issues that call into question the validity of the results and conclusions reported by the authors. Data were not collected in a scientifically rigorous way. Sufficient detail is not presented for the study to be replicated. The authors do not adhere to standard statistical definitions or assumptions. The study suffers from unaccounted for pseudoreplication. The authors draw conclusions beyond the reasonable scope of inference. 2019-04-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10150/663736 Linking Landscapes and People —Projecting the Future of the Great Plains Sohl, T.; Dornbierer, J.; Wika, S. We developed a unique set of landscape projections for the Great Plains that use real land-management parcels to represent landscape patterns at high spatial and thematic resolution. Both anthropogenic land use and natural vegetation respond in the model to projected changes in groundwater availability and climate change. Thirty-three scenario combinations were modeled, facilitating landscape planning and mitigation efforts under a range of possible landscape futures. Change in rangeland from 2014 to 2100 varied from an increase of 4.3% for the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) B2 scenario, to a decline of 23.6% for the SRES A1B scenario. The spatially and thematically detailed projections are designed for the assessment of landscape interactions with water flow and water quality, species distribution and abundance modeling, greenhouse gas assessments, and other ecosystem services. 2019-04-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10150/663735 Contemporary Livestock–Predator Themes Identified Through a Wyoming, USA Rancher Survey Windh, J.L.; Stam, B.; Scasta, J.D. Livestock-predator interactions structure ranchers' perceptions of predators. We surveyed 274 ranchers in Wyoming using open-answer questions about contemporary livestock-predator themes. Four themes emerged: 1) difficulty mitigating losses from protected large carnivores; 2) escalating impacts of predatory birds on livestock and wildlife; 3) sustainability of predator management funding; and 4) continual bureaucratic complexities of predator management. Themes had an underlying thread regarding the tension between state control versus federal control including concern about growing predator populations that may affect both livestock and native wildlife such as greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). 2019-04-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10150/663734 The Prehistoric Bison of Yellowstone National Park Keigley, R.B. When Yellowstone National Park (YNP) was established in 1872, American bison (Bison bison) were living in the park's forests and mountains. A study conducted in the 1960s concluded that those were Mountain bison (Bison bison athabascae), a subspecies adapted to mountain habitat. It was assumed that those historical bison occupied their native habitat and had done so in prehistoric times. When archaeological evidence of YNP bison was discovered in the mid-1990s it seemed reasonable to assume that those bones were derived from a herd of native prehistoric bison. However, a review of archaeological, historical, genetic, and ecological evidence suggests a different history. Namely, herds of bison were absent before 1840. Sometime between 1840 and the mid-1850s, plains bison were driven into the mountain forest in and near YNP. In those forests, bison were relatively safe from horse-mounted, bow-and-arrow-armed Native American hunters. Archaeological evidence suggests that YNP's prehistoric bison were bulls that left herds on the low-elevation plains that surround the park; the bulls would have traveled up mountain drainages to the Yellowstone volcanic plateau. Bison played no significant role in the ecological processes that shaped YNP's prehistoric landscape. YNP's modern bison herd is causing significant changes in range condition. 2019-04-01T00:00:00Z