Downy brome (Bromus tectorum) is one of the most problematic invasive plant species in the United States. Downy brome invasions are associated with reductions in diversity and an increase in fire intensity. Bioherbicides that are reported to effectively control downy brome have been developed. Pseudomonas fluorescens strain D7 is one such bioherbicide that is of significant interest to land managers in Wyoming. A spatially replicated field trial was performed to identify what effect D7 has on downy brome in Wyoming. The field trial showed no response of any downy brome fitness metrics to D7; only commonly used synthetic herbicides were able to reduce downy brome cover. This work suggested D7 may not be a viable product for downy brome control, or more information may be needed about the field conditions required for a positive result when using D7. © 2019 The Society for Range Management

Monitoring rangelands by identifying the departure of contemporary conditions from long-term ecological potential allows for the disentanglement of natural biophysical gradients driving change from changes associated with land uses and other disturbance types. We developed maps of ecological potential (EP) for shrub, sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), perennial herbaceous, litter, and bare ground fractional cover in Wyoming, USA. EP maps correspond to the potential natural vegetation cover expected by environmental conditions in the absence of anthropogenic and natural disturbance as represented by the greenest and least disturbed period of the Landsat archive. EP was predicted using regression tree models with inputs of soil maps and spectral data associated with the 75th percentile of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index in the Landsat archive. We trained our EP models with 2015 component cover maps on ecologically intact sites with relatively lower bare ground than expected. We generated departure of vegetation cover by comparing the EP and 2015 fractional cover. The departures represent land cover change from potential land cover and/or within-state changes in 2015. Next, we converted EP and 2015 fractional cover maps into thematic land cover and evaluated departure to determine if it was great enough to result in land cover change. The 2015 conditions showed reduced shrub, sagebrush, litter, and perennial herbaceous cover and increased bare ground relative to EP. Known disturbances, such as energy development, fires, and vegetation treatments, are clearly visible on the departure maps, but not on EP component maps. The most frequent departure from EP land cover was shrubland conversion to grassland. Land cover departures can be explained only in small part by known disturbance, and instead are ostensibly related to climate and land management practices. These drivers result in land cover departures that broadened the ecotone between shrubland and grassland relative to EP. © 2020 The Author(s)

The objective of this study was to determine if the stability of water temperature attributes suggested by an analysis conducted in 2003 (Larson and Larson 2001; 2003) was continued over a 20-yr period. The pattern of degree accumulations observed in the daily heating and cooling cycles of three streams in 1998, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2018 were studied in Grant County, Oregon. The average air and water temperatures remained stable at each site and followed the expected natural patterns (Larson and Larson 2001) described in an earlier study. Within each sampling year, mean air and water temperature remained within 1−2°C and there were no significant differences between the rates of heating between the study years or between sites. © 2020 The Society for Range Management

Bearing in mind the current dramatic decline in biodiversity, in addition to preserving remaining natural habitat patches, performing successful habitat restorations and land-use is increasingly essential. In this study, the effect of patch size and connectivity on the early succession of orthopteran assemblages was examined in reconstructed Central European sand habitats. The first comprehensive study on this topic demonstrated that the diversity of the assemblages in mid-successional stages (4th and 5th years of research) reached the value which characterised the control areas. Grazing can preserve habitats in this successional stage. Based on the results of the study in sand habitats belonging to low-productivity dry grasslands, to maintain heterogeneous habitat structures, traditional moderate grazing is recommended. Grazing by sheep is the most beneficial for maintaining the presence of open surfaces, closed patches, and fallen foliage cover in optimal proportions for orthopterans. It was also revealed, that during habitat restorations of sand grasslands, patch size and connectivity affect the species richness of habitat specialist orthopteran species strongly. © 2020 The Society for Range Management

Because drought impacts are accelerating due to climate change, drought preparedness on western rangelands matters now more than ever. Range professionals perceive, however, that many Utah ranchers remain ill-equipped for drought. The main research objective was to determine why ranchers often don't adopt recommended drought-mitigation tactics. Another objective was to clarify how grazing is managed during drought on federal lands. Fourteen tactics studied included management of water, forage, herds, and finances and access to information and government programs. Data collection included surveys of 429 ranchers and interviews of seven federal employees. Data analysis used descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Results indicated that 3,133 non-adoption decisions were heavily dominated by the perceived incompatibility between tactics and operational needs; producer situations may often be misunderstood by experts. Weather forecasting tools were typically regarded by ranchers as “too complex,” while Extension information was often viewed as “not useful.” Factors promoting drought preparedness included having a strong livestock-business orientation or a drought-planning mentality. Factors hindering drought preparedness were dominated by advancing rancher age. Grazing permittees benefit from federal drought early-warning systems, yet herd adjustments on allotments were rare during the 2019 drought, pushing forage utilization to the limits. While challenges appear daunting, there are opportunities to enhance drought preparedness, prominently including creative efforts to promote more education and mentoring on operational drought management. Comprehensive, user-friendly drought websites remain rare, yet they can be vital hubs for stakeholders. Such websites must meet diverse communication needs including a greater focus on information requirements of seniors. Drought policies for ranchers should: (1) Eliminate perverse incentives that foster inappropriate risk taking; (2) reward pro-active, risk-management behaviors; and (3) facilitate recruitment of a younger, innovative cohort of new producers. Updating federal management plans could support grazing adjustments that incorporate more grass banking. Unified drought-response guidelines could harmonize agency approaches. © 2020 The Society for Range Management

Asiatic elephants are facing numerous direct and indirect anthropogenic threats throughout their geographical distributional range. Consequent to the land use and land cover change, habitat loss, fragmentation, and deterioration of the corridor status are the prime threats for the species. The current study aimed to delineate the routes and migratory corridors of elephants in the Indo-Bangla forest along the Patharia Hills Reserve Forest and characterizing existing threats on the corridor for long-term conservation of the elephants using field survey and geospatial techniques. The study identified and mapped the elephant corridor for the first time in the area and named it the “Juri-Patharia-Tilbhum elephant corridor.” Land use and land cover changes in the corridor were markedly observed for over 4 decades (between 1972 and 2018). Forest-covered areas in the corridor were 32.06% in 1972, which has been reduced to only 2.98% in 2018, whereas human development types have all increased, grasslands by 127.18%, plantations by 146.56%, agriculture by 279.63%, and settlements by 147.17% between 1972 and 2018. The study concluded that the corridor area is at risk because of the lack of sustainable development in the area, which deliberately undermines conservation. Human settlement, road construction, and electrification in and around habitats and the corridor are vital threats faced by elephants in the Patharia Hills Reserve Forest. Conservation of habitat and corridor through both adoption of legal measures and community participation might be a better proposition for their long-term conservation in the habitat. The study appeals to the government to take conservation initiative in the area and suggest legal protection of the corridor and provide subsidies to the local private landowner to restrict the land-use change on the corridor. © 2020 The Society for Range Management

Agricultural practices have historically dominated disturbance on North American grasslands. Disturbances from oil and gas have become increasingly common and problematic for grassland conservation. With growing demand for oil and gas, industry is actively implementing minimal disturbance techniques during construction to reduce impacts on grasslands. This study aimed to determine impacts of a large-diameter pipeline right of way (ROW) on dry mixed-grass prairie to determine if and how far these impacts extended beyond the ROW and the effect of time on grassland recovery on and off ROW. Soil and vegetation on the ROW and on transects extending 300 m on either side of the ROW were assessed over a 10-yr period, starting the yr of construction, at six sites along a pipeline route in southern Alberta, Canada. There were significant impacts to soil and vegetation on the ROW and within 5 m of the ROW in the first yr. The trench was most impacted, followed by work and storage areas. Within 2 yr, soil and plant communities were on a trajectory toward reference prairie conditions. Ten yr following construction, only soil pH and bare ground were greater, and litter was less, on the trench than on work and storage areas, and relative to reference prairie. While native grass richness, dominance, and cover were similar on and off ROW, abundance of some native forb species was less on ROW. Non-native species cover was < 2% in all yr and locations. Although ruderal weed species were abundant on ROW the yr following construction, they disappeared by the following yr. Use of minimal-disturbance construction techniques reduced the size and intensity of the disturbance footprint, allowing for even sensitive arid habitat to recover within a short period of time. Similar approaches to other grassland disturbances can increase ecosystem resiliency. © 2020 The Authors

The feral pig is an exotic species in the Sierra La Laguna Biosphere Reserve, Baja California Sur, Mexico, and is considered harmful to the woodlands and tropical deciduous forest because of its foraging habits. To determine the taxonomic, nutrient, and energy content of the feral pig diet in this area, stomach contents of forty feral pigs were analyzed during the dry and rainy seasons in the woodlands and the tropical deciduous forest. Results indicate that feral pigs are frugivore-herbivore and stenophagous, feeding on a high percentage of fruits and seeds (77–87%) that provide high metabolizable energy (8293–11,585 kJ kg−1 dry matter) and moderate crude protein (94.1–151.6 g kg−1 dry matter) year round in the woodland and during the dry season in the tropical deciduous forest, or high percentage of leaves, stems, and tubers (44%) that provide low metabolizable energy (4740 kJ kg−1 dry matter) and moderate crude protein (107.5 g kg−1 dry matter) in the rainy season in the tropical deciduous forest. Therefore, diets based on fruits and seeds favor a lower quantity of food to meet the energy for maintenance of feral pigs than those based on other plant tissues: pine nuts < acorns ≈ wild figs < leaves, stems, and tubers. The observed diet based on acorns, along with estimates of acorn production results in a carrying capacity estimate of 0.031 adult feral pig ha−1 yr−1 during years of low acorn production. Thus, feral pigs in the area use fruits and seeds in both woodlands and tropical deciduous forest because of their quality as food resources. The availability of the food resources preferred by pigs (pine nuts, acorns, fan-palm fruits, and wild figs) during the year can be used to inform potentially sustainable feral pig carrying capacities and establish hunting programs. © 2020 The Society for Range Management

Roper (2020) conducted a critique of the Larson et al. (2019) study of the accuracy and confidence of data collected using systematic and random sampling designs. Roper (2020) did not provide a data set but speculated that the Larson et al. (2019) conclusions likely reflected differences in the number of plants evaluated at each plot and the low number of independent observers rather than the sample design. Our random sampling design employed multiple randomly located quadrat locations and measured multiple plants (> 5) that were averaged within the plot to represent plot characteristics. Data collected in this fashion fulfilled assumptions intrinsic to and necessary for statistical analysis using plot data as observations. Thus, the statistical observations reported in the original paper are valid. © 2020 The Society for Range Management

In Texas, mesquite and yellow-bluestem invasions are widespread. Identifying and monitoring juvenile and adult plants using high-resolution imagery from airborne sensors while they colonize new areas across the landscape can help land managers prioritize locations for treatment and eradication. In this study, we evaluated how data collection design using an unmanned aerial system (UAS) can affect plant detection and mapping. We used a Phantom 3 Professional unmanned aerial vehicle with a Parrot Sequoia multispectral camera for detecting and mapping native honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) and non-native yellow bluestem (Bothriochloa ischaemum) at a rangeland site in northwest Texas. Flights were conducted seasonally during the period from summer 2017 to fall 2018 to test the seasonal impact of detecting plant species. Flights were conducted at altitudes of 30, 60, and 100 m, and four image classification techniques were tested to determine their viability of detecting distinct plant species. Results suggest that flights at 100-m aircraft altitude during the spring season are more effective (>80% user accuracies) for mapping mesquite canopies based on reflectance values and image segmentation information. Yellow bluestem mapping accuracies were low (< 20% user accuracies). Lower spatial resolution (100-m altitude flights, 12-cm pixel resolution) provided less noise and more generalization capabilities for the image classification methods. Overall, random forests and Support Vector Machine classification algorithms outperformed probability-based image classifiers. Land owners and rangeland ecologists using their own UAS in rangeland management can use this information to plan their data collection campaigns before the application of chemical treatments or manual eradication. © 2020 The Society for Range Management