Bringing pastureland classification into an ecological site framework gives us the opportunity to build on the extensive experience of rangeland scientists and managers with this process. Unlike rangelands, pasture plant communities are dominated by naturalized species and are maintained by management, often within a complex landscape of agriculture, forest, and development. Current efforts to build a management-relevant classification system for pasturelands and other agricultural vegetation types begin with a quantitative landscape classification focused on the climatic, edaphic, and topographic variables that determine temperature, light, and water availability and thus potential plant species composition. Species distribution models, forage production models, and state and transition models of management alternatives and potential outcomes are then superimposed on this classification. Model results and management interpretations are based on field data and expert knowledge. Each step can incorporate either current climate or potential future climates. This process results in an ecologically-justifiable system for categorizing pasturelands that meets the needs of researchers and land managers, both now and into the future.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.