Huffaker and Cooper have presented a model linking privately optimal annual stocking rates to their long-term impact on the succession of plant species on rangeland. The underlying motivation is the observation that overgrazing and the resulting erosion-promoting conversion of rangeland from perennial to annual grasses have been tied to serious off-site environmental problems in many parts of the West. Their model provides the framework for developing successional thresholds- an analytical tool that monitors long-term rangeland resiliency in the context of a private ranching enterprise. Successional thresholds partition rangeland conditions into those gravitating toward socially desirable or socially undesirable rangeland plant compositions over time. Successional thresholds depend on economic conditions, and thus can be financially manipulated to ensure that current private rangeland conditions gravitate toward socially desirable plant compositions over time.
Citations and enhanced abstracts for journals articles and documents focused on rangeland ecology and management. RSIS is a collaboration between Montana State University, University of Idaho, and University of Wyoming.