British Columbia has experienced a rise of approximately 1.5 oC mean annual surface temperature over the past 50 years. Recent growth in the Canadian oil and gas industry has the potential to further contribute to global climate change, with greater increases in temperature and altered precipitation patterns. As a result, BC cattle producers must practice adaptation to manage their rangelands affected by present and future climate change. We present research that tests (1) the effect of climate change on BC grasslands; (2) management intensive grazing practices to mitigate elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide; and, (3) the use of assisted migration of grass genotypes to improve restoration success of grasslands impacted by the oil and gas industry, for example, pipelines. Cattle producers will need to alter management practices to respond to changes in forage productivity. However, certain range management practices have been shown to increase soil carbon storage, thus potentially mitigating global climate change. In addition, the use of drought-tolerant grass genotypes in grassland restoration may also mitigate an expected decline in forage productivity. By studying the effects of climate change on range management and grassland restoration now we have the best chance of adaptation and mitigation in the cattle industry.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.