Successful rangeland restoration requires significant cooperation from local weather over the long term, and at all stages in the life cycle of planted species. Restoration scenarios that focus on single-year intervention may yield short-term or partial success but not meet longer term objectives for establishment of diverse and resilient plant communities. Emerging technologies for characterization of local weather, seasonal forecasting, and life-stage specific modeling of seedbed microclimate may yield a more probabilistic/contingency approach to both planning and management of rangeland restoration projects. In this presentation we will present various tools for accessing local weather data and interpreting historical weather effects on the probability of initial seedling establishment, and some weather-centric adaptive management strategies for achieving longer-term rangeland restoration goals. These strategies are essential for taking advantage of emerging seasonal forecasting technologies, and to deal with potential impacts of future climate change.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.