Adaptive management (AM) theory is a popular management and conservation tool favored by many land managers and scientists. Its influence is widely observed in the policies and goals of many federal land management agencies. Rangeland management in the west is no exception. AM has been proposed for use in grazing management because it recognizes that rangelands are not static. AM allows land managers to respond to unexpected environmental stressors, such as drought, by adjusting the intensity, season, or duration of grazing. Despite its widespread adoption in policy, implementing AM on the ground has proven to be a difficult task. We hypothesize that some of this difficulty stems from a misunderstanding of what practices are consistent with AM and because of an under-emphasis on the different approaches to AM, ranging from passive (informed by best practices; includes monitoring, reflection and incorporating learning into management) to active (focused on learning and hypothesis testing; emphasizes formulation and testing of hypotheses, and incorporates knowledge and experiences from a wide range of stakeholders; embraces interdisciplinarity and complexity). This research presents a thorough review of AM implementation on rangelands in theory and practice. Through this review, we have compiled all available literature on AM practices used in rangeland management, evaluated the characteristics of typical AM approaches, and proposed an adaptive management rubric for use in assessing the presence or absence and qualities of AM in management documents. This review and AM rubric can be used in determining the degree to which AM is being implemented in rangeland management and other natural resources management settings and contributes to efforts to evaluate the efficiency and efficacy of institutionally mandated AM policies.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.