The loss and degradation of North America�s grasslands present a formidable challenge to managers attempting to conserve this ecosystem. Much of the mixed-grass and tallgrass prairies managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) in the northern Great Plains are invaded by introduced cool-season grasses. �Management to suppress these plants has had poor to inconsistent success, mainly for lack of understanding of prairie restoration ecology and absence of systematic evaluation of management effects. The central challenge to land managers is selecting appropriate management actions in the face of biological and environmental uncertainties. In partnership with U.S. Geological Survey, Service staff are implementing an adaptive framework known as the Native Prairie Adaptive Management program (NPAM) that assists managers in selecting management actions under uncertainty and maximizing learning from management outcomes. More than 20 Service stations are involved across the northern Great Plains with a shared goal of increasing native prairie composition. The framework provides optimal management recommendations based on current knowledge, while incorporating the current condition of enrolled units. The responsibility of managing, monitoring, and data entry lie with the individual station managers; however archiving and analyses are provided at a broader scale through the framework. Station managers recognize that receiving science-based decision support provides efficiencies for NPAM and other units. The NPAM program coordinator possesses a slightly differing perspective by providing operational and oversight tasks. This individual possesses a broad perspective, comprehending the benefits of a collective effort at a landscape scale. An individual management outcome may be unfavorable in a particular year; however the learning that has occurred supersedes this outcome by providing feedback to provide better decisions in the future. Upholding the scientific basis of NPAM and navigating the necessary communications among participants and the coordinator is critical for the long term viability of this program.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.