Annual/Termination Reports:

[12/20/2006] [12/01/2007] [01/05/2009] [12/18/2009] [01/03/2011]

Report Information

Participants

Bailey, Derek (dwbailey@nmsu.edu) - New Mexico State University;
Johnson, Pat (patricia.johnson@adstate.edu) - South Dakota State University;
Kirby, Don (donald.kirby@ndsu.edu) - North Dakota State University;
Marlow, Clayton (cmarlow@montana.edu) - Montana State University;
Meiman, Paul (pmeiman@warnercnr.colostate.edu) - Colorado State University;
Perryman, Barry (bperryman@cabnr.unr.edu) - University of Nevada Reno;
Smith, Mike (pearl@uwyo.edu) - University of Wyoming;
Stringham, Tamzen (tamzen.stringham@oregonstate.edu) - Oregon State University;
Vermeire, Lance (lance@larrl.ars.usda.gov) - USDA Agricultural Research Service;

Brief Summary of Minutes

This past year, WERA-40 committee members developed and submitted a new proposal which after some revisions has been approved. The primary goal of the approved WERA-40 committee is broad dissemination of the most recent rangeland assessment methods to policy makers, land mangers and the scientific community. There was considerable discuss at this years annual meeting of the future activities of WERA-40 to address the goals outlined in the new proposal. Those discussions resulted in the following plans for 2007:
o Produce a white paper on "Ecological Transition and Threshold Identification" to the SRM Advisory Council as the first step to influence NRI funding in this area from CSREES.
o Develop a resolution asking the SRM Board and President to pursue the above line of funding.
o Develop a symposium to address difficulties of identifying ecological transitions and thresholds for the 2008 SRM meetings.
Committee members also discussed getting additional participation in WERA-40 from land grant universities and federal agencies. Committee members will work on identifying specific individuals and extend an invitation to join WERA-40. State reports were given at the annual meeting and are attached. The committee elected Derek Bailey to serve as secretary for 2007 and Tamzen Stringham will serve as chairperson for WERA-40. Next years meeting will be in early October and Arizona was the committee's first choice as a place to meet. The field trip in conjunction with the annual meeting was to BLM lands surrounding the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Management Area. The combined skills of the scientists present were used to conduct numerous rangeland health assessments using the Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health, Version 4 guide developed by the Bureau of Land Management, Natural Resource Conservation Service, U.S. Geological Survey and the Agricultural Research Service, Jornada Experimental Range. Three locations were assessed using the methodology and discussion centered on the positives and the negatives of the assessment method. The group decided to ask the authors of the method to add language to the document outlining the training requirements and knowledge level of individuals assigned to teams doing rangeland health assessments and to outline specifically the methodology that is to be followed in the assessments. Tamzen Stringham has contacted Pat Shaver of the NRCS with a verbal request to insert such language. Pat Shaver has agreed to take the request forward to all agencies involved once WERA-40 committee has drafted the language. Derek Bailey of New Mexico State is responsible for drafting the language.

Accomplishments

August 2006: Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management at Oregon State University in cooperation with USDA-NRCS hosted a national State and Transition Ecological Theory Workshop in Corvallis, OR. Presentations at the workshop can be found at the following webstite. http://oregonstate.edu/dept/range/events/archivedevents/StateAndTransitionMonitoringPage.php <p><br /> In progress: Maria E. Fernandez-Gimenez at Colorado State University is currently assessing landowners perspectives of State and Transition Models concepts and their understanding of them. <p><br /> In progess: Tamzen Stringham at Oregon State University is working with NRCS to develop a State and Transition Model for rangelands in Oregon to be used with range managers in planning rangeland use. <p><br /> Reports for South Dakota State University, University of Wyoming, Montana State University, University of Nevada Reno, North Dakota State University, Colorado State University, and ARS, Miles City were distributed at the meeting.

Publications

Bailey, D.W., H.C. VanWagoner, and R. Weinmeister. 2006. Individual animal selection has the potential to improve uniformity of grazing on foothill rangeland. Rangeland Ecol. Manage. 59:351-358.<br /> <br /> <br /> Marlow, C.B., R. Finck and H. Sherwood. 2006. Grazed Stubble Height as a Criterion for Controlling Sediment Production from Grazing Lands. J. Amer. Water Resources. 42(4):891-900.<br /> <br /> McDaniel, K.C., L.A. Torell, and C.G. Ochoa. 2005. Wyoming big sagebrush recovery and understory response with tebuthiuron control. Rangeland Ecol. Manage. 58:65-76.<br /> <br /> <br /> Vermeire, L.T., Wester, D.B., Mitchell, R., Fuhlendorf, S.D. 2005. Fire and grazing effects on wind erosion, soil water content, and soil temperature. Journal of Environmental Quality 34:1559-1565.<br /> <br /> Vermeire, L.T., Heitschmidt, R.K. Haferkamp, M.R. 2006. Grazing and livestock exclusion effects on northern plains diversity and heterogeneity. Society for Range Management Meeting Abstracts #365.

Impact Statements

Back to top

Report Information

Participants

Bailey, Derek (dwbailey@nmsu.edu) - New Mexico State University;
Fernández-Giménez, Maria (gimenez@warnercnr.colostate.edu) - Colorado State University;
Flarell, Dustin (dkflarell@ucdavis.edu) - Sierra Foothill R&E Center;
George, Mel (mrgeorge@ucdavis.edu) - University of California, Davis;
Hardesty, Linda (lhardest@wsu.edu) - Washington State University;
Jacobs, Jim (jjj@uwyo.edu) - University of Wyoming;
Johnson, Pat (patricia.johnson@sdstate.edu) - South Dakota State University;
Perryman, Barry (bperryman@cabnr.unr.edu) - University of Nevada, Reno;
Pyke, David (david.a.pyke@usgs.gov) - U.S. Geological Survey;
Smith, Michael (pearl@uwyo.edu) - University of Wyoming;
Stringham, Tamzen (Tamzen.Stringham@oregonstate.edu) - Oregon State University;
Tate, Ken (kwtate@ucdavis.edu) - Univ. of California, Davis;

Brief Summary of Minutes

Old Business

Meeting opened by Tamzen Stringham on October 4 at 9:00 am at the University of California Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center.

The minutes of the 2006 WERA minutes were read. Pat Johnson moved and Barry Perryman seconded acceptance of minutes.

Thanks go to Clayton Marlow for coordinating arrangements for the meeting and the excellent field tour at Billings, MT in November 2006.

Jim Jacobs our Administrative Advisor will no longer serve as our Advisor after 2007. The WERA 40 committee will need a new Administrative Advisor.

The format of the minutes and reports must be stream-lined to include:

Participants
Accomplishments
Impacts

New Business

2008 Meeting Location. The committee considered conducting joint meeting with WERA 108 Rangeland West committee. Jim Jacobs informed the committee that a short petition would be required for a March 2008 meeting to coincide with WERA108. The concern expressed regarding a joint meeting with WERA 108 was that most time spent at WERA108 was computer work. Barry Perryman and others emphasized that one of the greatest values of WERA 40 meetings was the rangeland field trips.

The committee then considered organizing a joint meeting with WERA 21 (Revegetation and Stabilization of Deteriorated and Altered Lands) for the 2008 meeting. Dave Pyke is on the WERA 21 committee and organizing a field trip for the WERA 21 meeting next year. Maria Fernández-Giménez and Derek Bailey volunteered to help organize a fall 2008 meeting in Colorado. Dave Pyke agreed to coordinate a joint meeting in Colorado with WERA 21.

In the event that Colorado cannot host the 2008 WERA 40 meeting, Derek Bailey agreed to pursue Tucson, AZ as a location.

Elections. Pat Johnson made a motion to nominate Lance Vermeire as secretary for 2008. Barry Perryman seconded the motion.

Increasing WERA 40 participation. Tamzen Stringham suggested that participants personally invite people to attend future WERA 40 meetings. The committee also suggested sending the WERA 40 minutes to:

Jim Dobrowolski, USDA CSREES;
Leonard Jolley, NRCS;
Cindy McArthur, USFS;
Linda Coates-Markel, BLM

Tamzen Stringham and other committee members will personally invite these individuals after the minutes have been sent.

Rangeland Health evaluation. The committee expressed concerns with how the Rangeland Health evaluation procedures are being implemented by some range technicians. The possibility of an SRM certification course or a 1-week course for undergraduates was discussed. The committee recommended that the language on the page 1 of the Technical Reference 1734-6 "Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health" be made stronger.

Rangeland PhD programs. The committee was concerned with the lack of PhD graduates with a rangeland focused study versus ecological focus study. More discussion on this topic is needed.

White Paper to SRM Advisory Council. In 2006, the WERA 40 committee proposed developing a white paper to influence funding from CSREES for ecological and threshold identification. To the 2007 meeting participants' best recollection, no white paper was prepared but there were discussions with the SRM Advisory Council regarding STMs. Follow up with Clayton Marlow to learn the status of the white paper.

International Rangeland and Grassland Congress. Maria Fernández-Giménez plans to attend the joint meeting of the International Rangeland and Grassland Congress in China in 2008. Although it is past the deadline date, she will try to take a poster on STMs to the meeting.

Potential 2010 Symposium. In 2006, the WERA 40 committee proposed symposium for 2010 focusing on the repair of damaged processes and the maintenance of functional processes. Discussions regarding this symposium were still positive.

Concerns with review and editorial process of Rangeland Ecology and Management. Several WERA participants were concerned with the timeliness and quality of scientific critique of manuscripts submitted to Rangeland Ecology and Management. Valid non-traditional, statistical approaches should be considered. Derek Bailey and Mike Smith are on the Associate Editor Board and will relay these concerns at the 2008 SRM meeting in Louisville.

Thanks to Jim Jacobs! The WERA 40 committee would like to express our gratitude to Jim Jacobs for serving as our Administrative Advisor.


Station Reports (full reports are attached)

University of Wyoming reported by Mike Smith. "Hard core range" faculty are growing old. Quentin Skinner may retire in March 2008. This is the last year that Dan Rogers will teach. Only a few range graduate students. Move to ecology faculty.

Washington State University reported by Linda Hardesty. A new president has been hired at Washington State University (WSU). The president made new requests for excellence in Animal Health with increased emphasis on competitive grants and classical animal science. There is no range program at WSU. A new riparian ecologist will be hired at WSU. Linda is conducting research on pygmy rabbit recovery, canary grass, and cheatgrass.

South Dakota State University reported by Pat Johnson. There are three programs in Animal and Range. Four range faculty at SDSU. A new Dean has been hired. Facilities at Cottonwood and Antelope Research Stations will be improved with new 0.5 million appropriation to each station. There are 45 undergraduates and five MS students.

US Geological Survey reported by Dave Pyke. USGS rangeland activities include sagegrouse habitat and sagebrush ecosystem research. They are very concerned with transition of shrublands to annual grasslands (cheatgrass). They will be hiring a new range fire ecology position. A new interest is to identify the best approaches to monitor livestock impacts on BLM lands that will allow them to scale up from allotments to regions. See attached report.

New Mexico State University reported by Derek Bailey. Seven academic faculty plus three extension faculty. Undergraduate enrollment increasing due to recruitment efforts by Jerry Holechek. Virtually 100% employment for undergraduates in range. See attached report.

University of California, Davis reported by Mel George. Range faculty at UC Davis are limited with many involved in other projects. Fifteen farm advisors in range of which three have PhDs. Mel George is developing a long-distance grazing management class. UC Berkley is promoting working landscapes with grazing as a goal.

Oregon State University reported by Tamzen Stringham. OSU is in flux. Mike Borman is the interim department head. OSU will begin a new range department head search. John Buckhouse is not teaching now and may retire soon. There are 45 range undergraduates. Tamzen Stringham currently has most of the range graduate students (currently 8).

Colorado State University reported by Maria Fernández-Giménez. Range is a program within a department. CSU is searching for a new department head. There are 6-10 range faculty of which three are new. There are 22 range majors. See attached report.

University of Nevada, Reno reported by Barry Perryman. Two programs at UNR with range interests: Natural Resources and Ecology and Animal BioTechnology. Twelve to 15 range students in Animal Technology program. UNR is filling an endowed position in range.

Accomplishments

1) Organized a symposium for the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Society for Range<br /> Management in Louisville, Kentucky entitled State-and-Transition Models: Triggers, Feedbacks and Thresholds for January 29, 2008. This symposium presents recent advancements in Site and Transition Models (STMs) including the concepts of ecological resilience, triggers and feedback mechanisms that strengthen the potential for STMs to capture a broader set of relevant information for anticipating and identifying variables and conditions that drive ecosystem dynamics. (An agenda for the symposium is attached).<br /> <br /> 2) A Riparian Ecological Theory Development Workshop was held August 13-17, 2007 at Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Workshop involved selected NRCS grazing lands specialists and scientists, researchers, professors from universities, and the Agricultural Research Service. This Workshop was designed to allow the research and scientific community to communicate with NRCS on how riparian ecology can be addressed when developing State and Transition models for ecological sites. Discussions and decisions allowed NRCS to better refine riparian theory concepts and will support management recommendations to producers. <br /> <br /> 3) General state & transition models for the most common upland ecological sites within the Major Land Resource Areas 23 and 24 will be developed by Tamzen Stringham for use by NRCS. Development of these academically peer reviewed models will facilitate the entry of data into the ESD program and will immediately be useful to field office operations, technical service providers, state and federal land management agencies, and other users.<br /> <br /> 4) General state & transition models for upland ecological sites within the Major Land Resource Areas B10 have been completed by Tamzen Stringham and delivered to NRCS.<br /> <br /> 5) General state & transition models for the California annual grasslands have been completed by Mel George with assistance from others in University of California Cooperative Extension.<br /> <br /> 6) David Briske, Brandon Bestelmeyer and Tamzen Stringham prepared a manuscript that describes conceptual improvements to Site and Transition Model framework. The paper has been accepted by Rangeland Ecology and Management with minor revisions.<br /> <br /> 7) Maria Fernández-Giménez is conducting a project that seeks to underpin the state-and-transition model (STMs) framework with a network of long-term empirical data. Research objectives of the project are to 1) explore new protocols to construct STMs that are based on empirical ecological data, 2) investigate the ecological validity of existing qualitative STMs by comparing them with data-based models, and 3) evaluate the decision rules and assumptions that various authors utilize to construct STMs.<br /> <br /> 8) Maria Fernández-Giménez is conducting a project to develop Site and Transition Models (STMs) based on ecological field data and professional and local knowledge, using qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques. A participatory stakeholder process will be used to compare and evaluate the accuracy and utility of STMs based on different knowledge sources and data analysis approaches, and to develop best-fit models that combine local knowledge and field data. The project will promote adoption of STMs through: a) direct stakeholder participation in workshops to develop and evaluate STMs, b) partnerships with local and state-wide organizations to integrate STMs into existing producer and manager workshops, short-courses, and publications, c) incorporation of STMs models into NRCS site descriptions, and d) publication of the STMs and a handbook describing their development and use on the Colorado Rangelands and Rangelands West websites.<br />

Publications

Impact Statements

Back to top

Report Information

Participants

Bailey, Derek (dwbailey@nmsu.edu) - New Mexico State University;
Fernandez-Gimenez, Maria (gimenez@warnercnr.colostate.ed) - Colorado State University;
Howery, Larry (lhowery@ag.arizona.edu) - University of Arizona;
Johnson, Pat (patricia.johnson@sdstate.edu) - South Dakota State University;
Marlow, Clayton (cmarlow@montana.edu) - Montana State University;
Miller, Steve (sdmiller@uwyo.edu) - University of Wyoming;
Moffet, Corey (corey.moffet@ars.usda.gov) - U.S. Sheep Experiment Station;
Sedivec, Keven (kevin.sedivec@ndsu.edu) - North Dakota State University;
Smith, Michael (pearl@uwyo.edu) - University of Wyoming;
Strand, Eva (evas@uidaho.edu) - University of Idaho;
Vermeire, Lance (lance.vermeire@ars.usda.gov) - Livestock & Range Research Lab;

Brief Summary of Minutes

Meeting opened by Derek Bailey on November 13 at 07:30 am at the La Quinta Inn in Tucson, AZ.

Derek Bailey and Mitch McClaran arranged and provided an excellent tour of ecological sites on the Santa Rita Experimental Range. Oral state reports were given for Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, and Montana at the tour's conclusion.

The meeting reconvened at the La Quinta Inn at 08:00 am on November 14. The minutes of the 2007 WERA-40 minutes were read. Clayton Marlow moved and Pat Johnson seconded acceptance of minutes.

New Business

2009 Meeting Location. The committee will hold the 2009 meeting in Craig County, Colorado September 17-18. Maria Fernández-Giménez will organize the tour of some of her research sites where she is assessing the accuracy of state-and-transition models with stakeholders using empirical data and local sources of knowledge. The tour will be designed to help the committee prepare a symposium on the topic.

2010 Meeting Location. The committee will hold the 2010 meeting in Idaho, with specific dates and location to be determined. The tentative plan is to organize a tour of the wildfire complex.

2010 Symposium. WERA-40 committee proposed a symposium tentatively titled "Applicability of state-and-transition models across regions." The symposium will examine the model-predicted movements between states due to use of specific tools and relate those predictions to actual outcomes. A unique emphasis will be to include examination of the common tools across regions because of past tendencies to develop models regionally and attempt to apply them universally. A tentative list of speakers was generated including Bob Patton, Pat Johnson, Dan Robinette, Steve Archer, Rick Miller, Fred Pierson, Maria Fernández-Giménez, Chad Prosser, Roger Sheley, and Dave Briske. Regions should include the Great Plains, Southern Deserts, and Great Basin.

Elections. Eva Strand was nominated and unanimously elected as secretary for 2009.

White Paper to SRM Advisory Council. Due to restructuring of the funding agencies, development of a white paper to influence funding from CSREES for ecological and threshold identification has been tabled.

The WERA-40 committee thanks and welcomes Steve Miller for serving as our new administrative advisor.


Station Reports (full reports are attached)

University of Arizona reported by Larry Howery. Department is increasing the number of range majors by increasing electives. Currently, there are 19 undergraduates and 5 graduate students. There are a number of recently appointed administrators and the top current concern is the state's projected debt. Larry is currently evaluating predator effects on grazing behavior.

Colorado State University reported by Maria Fernández-Giménez. Department head position search is ongoing. There are 21 undergraduate and more than 40 graduate students. Range curriculum has been revised with more electives and there is a new emphasis on remote and web-based education. There are five range faculty and one extension specialist. Range improvements and range planning courses were lost and an instructor for taxonomy is needed. Range majors are getting 100% employment. See attached report.

University of Idaho reported by Eva Strand. The department has eight range faculty, including two new positions in landscape and restoration ecology, and they have added an outreach coordinator. There are 35-40 undergraduates and 10 graduate students. A new B.S. is offered in Fire Ecology & Management. See attached report.

U.S. Sheep Experiment Station, ARS reported by Corey Moffet. The station has four SY in range and animal sciences, with one retirement that will not be refilled. Current rangeland research is focused on fire, post-fire grazing in sagebrush steppe, and imagery analysis.

Montana State University reported by Clayton Marlow. The department has 57 undergraduate and seven graduate students and has added three courses. There have been two retirements and they are currently seeking an extension livestock environment specialist. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks currently pays for one person to teach wildlife management.

Livestock and Range Research Laboratory, ARS reported by Lance Vermeire. The lab has nine animal and range scientists, four are on the Range CRIS. Range research is focused on the interactions of fire, grazing, and weeds. A new scientist was hired to focus on belowground range ecology, particularly microbial communities as they interact with previously mentioned disturbances. Mark Petersen will be Research Leader as of March 2009. See attached report.

New Mexico State University reported by Derek Bailey. The department has 46 undergraduate and 11 graduate students. There are six range faculty and three extension specialists. Kirk McDaniel has retired, the position will be filled. Continued close relationship with ARS at Jornada. Virtually 100% employment for undergraduates in range. See attached report.

North Dakota State University reported by Kevin Sedivec. There are 10 undergraduates and 12 graduate range majors. Introduction to Range now has 60 students; most are in the natural resources program. There are five range faculty following William Barkers retirement. Plans are to fill the vacancy. Curriculum has been updated with new range planning, wetland classification, and resource scenario courses. See attached report.

South Dakota State University reported by Pat Johnson. There are four range faculty with 40-45 undergraduate and 7-8 graduate students in the department. Ranch management option has been added for a remote learning program. Currently searching for a new department head; dean and provost are also retiring soon.

University of Wyoming reported by Mike Smith. John Tanaka is the new department head. There are 12 staff members teaching or advising range students (two FTE in extension), seven teaching soils, and five teaching entomology. The department has 110 undergraduate and 25 graduate students. Projects are focusing on reclamation, water, and weed problems. Quentin Skinner has retired. The department was recognized as the best in the university for grant dollars per FTE. The range program is under review for SRM accreditation. See attached report.

Accomplishments

A symposium entitled "State-and-Transition Models: Triggers, Feedbacks and Thresholds" was held at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Society for Range Management in Louisville, Kentucky. This symposium presented recent advancements in Site and Transition Models (STMs) including the concepts of ecological resilience, triggers and feedback mechanisms that strengthen the potential for STMs to capture a broader set of relevant information for anticipating and identifying variables and conditions that drive ecosystem dynamics.

Publications

Impact Statements

1. The new approaches toward state-and-transition models promoted by this project are advancing adaptive management and restoration options for a broader range of conditions.

Back to top

Report Information

Participants

Abbott, Laurie (labbott@nmsu.edu) - New Mexico State University;
Borman, Mike (michael.borman@oregonstate.edu) - Oregon State University;
Fernandez-Gimenez, Maria (Maria.Fernandez-Gimenez@colostate.edu) - Colorado State University;
McKinstry, Kathy (Kathy_McKinstry@blm.gov) - Bureau of Land Management;
Marlow, Clayton (cmarlow@montana.edu) - Montana State University;
Smith, Mike (pearl@uwyo.edu) - University of Wyoming;
Strand, Eva (evas@uidaho.edu) - University of Idaho;

Brief Summary of Minutes

Participants at 2009 Annual Meeting: Laurie Abbott, Mike Borman, Maria Fernandez-Gimenez (chair), Clayton Marlow, Mike Smith, Eva Strand (secretary). Additional field trip participants: Emily Kachergis (CSU Graduate Student), Kathy McKinstry (BLM), Hunter Seim (BLM).

Field Tour
The first day of the meeting was comprised of an introductory presentation by the meeting host, Maria Fernandez-Gimenez of Colorado State University and Maria's PhD student Emily Kachergis, followed by a field tour. Maria and Emily presented their team's current research developing state and transition models for the sagebrush steppe based on 1) local knowledge qualitatively analyzed and 2) ecological field data quantitatively analyzed. They described the methods and results of each of these model-building projects, as well as the process of evaluating and integrating the models in a series of stakeholder workshops.

The field tour took place in the Elkhead watershed where Emily and Maria have conducted field sampling on public and private lands for development of data-driven state-and-transition models. Two major ecological sites were sampled, namely claypan and mountain loam sites. Claypan sites are broadly characterized by clay soils and alkali sagebrush while the mountain loam sites are characterized by soils with higher organic content and big sagebrush. We stopped at four sites where Emily described the ecological site, state, and discussed possible transitions: 1) Claypan. Alkali sage with diverse understory. No livestock grazing for ~10 years. 2) Mountain loam. Mountain big sagebrush with a diverse understory. Low to moderate grazing history. 3 Claypan. Alkali sage/bluegrass. Low/moderate grazing history. 4) Claypan and mountain loam side by side. Eroding alkali sage on one site and dense mountain sage on the other side of the road.

Old Business
The second day was the business meeting. Maria Fernandez-Gimenez presented the meeting minutes from 2008 (submitted by Derek Bailey, NMSU), and the group reviewed and approved the 2008 minutes.

New Business
The group suggested that agency representatives (e.g., ARS) should be invited to WERA40 meetings, realizing that there might be budget constraints. Agency representatives can also be invited to and engaged in the field tours.

STM Symposium for 2010 SRM meeting in Denver
The meeting continued with a discussion of the planned STM symposium at the Denver SRM meeting in February 2010. The presenters have been finalized and abstracts submitted. Each speaker will be allocated 30-40 minutes, Maria will find out the exact time. Symposium participants will be asked to submit proceedings of their presentation to Clayton Marlow. Montana Extension may be able to cover printing and online publication costs (.pdf format). If possible, authors should submit manuscripts by February.

The WERA40 group will write a synthesis paper to be published in Range Ecology and Management based on the symposium and submitted proceedings. This publication will be discussed by the authors at the SRM meeting in Denver. The WERA40 group will act as a review board for the synthesis article. A Wiki web site will be used to coordinate writing of the synthesis paper Laurie and Clayton will set up this web site and invite the other authors.

Synopsis of Discussion on STMs and ESDs from Sept. 17 and 18
Throughout the field trip and on the morning of Sept. 18 the group discussed the status and challenges of STM development and application for rangeland assessment. Following are some of the key points that emerged from this discussion.
1. A more thorough and transparent inclusion of soil characteristics in STMs would be desirable.
2. Better consistency in what goes into STMs is needed. What type of information needs to go into an STM (for ESDs), soil characteristics, rangeland health indicators, vegetation characteristics, etc.
3. A state is assumed to be stable but some are not. For states that are undesirable and/or unstable and we need to better identify what conservation measures can be applied.
4. STMs are dynamic and need to be updated as our knowledge evolves. STMs may become incorporated in agency regulatory policy. We need to develop guidelines for proper use of STMs to avoid inappropriate use. STMs are useful to better understand ecological processes and inform management but they are not prescriptive and are unsuitable for regulatory policy and management.
5. We need to better identify how STMs can be used in education and outreach.
6. We need to better understand and define how STMs can be used at different scales and across landscapes incorporating several ecological sites.

Wiki Demonstration
Laurie Abbott demonstrated how a wiki can be used to collaborate in writing manuscripts online (http://pbworks.com). Using this tool, several authors can access the current version of the manuscript and make changes. Previous versions are saved in an archive online. We discussed using this tool to work on the planned synthesis paper to come from the 2010 STM symposium.

Discussion of 2010 WERA-40 Meeting
Clayton Marlow presented an invitation to meet collaboratively with the WERA65 meeting in 2010 in Bozeman, Montana. WERA65 works on intensively managed pastures. Intensively managed pastures could give relief to native rangelands when needed. We discussed where to take the field tour next year. It was decided to tour the Murphy Fire Complex in southern Idaho. Eva Strand was voted to be chair for the meeting 2010. Clayton Marlow was selected secretary but may not be available to be chair in 2011.

Summary of State Reports (see full reports in appendix A of meeting minutes)

Montana (Montana State University)
Department: Animal and Range Sciences
Degree in Natural Resources and Rangeland Ecology. Two options 1) Rangeland Ecology and 2) Wildlife Habitat. Graduates 68 students per year, 100% increase. Offers 15 range courses with two faculty members. A new industry funded building is being built on the MSU campus with classrooms and new laboratories. The department is planning to move in within a year. A national search for a new department head has been approved. Only animal science faculty on the search committee.

Wyoming (University of Wyoming)
Department: Renewable Resources
BS degree in Rangeland Ecology and Watershed Management. MS and PhD degrees in REWM, Entomology and Soils
89 undergraduates, 69 research grants $5.6 mil. John Tanaka is the new department head as of August 2009. Twenty-three faculty in Renewable Resources. Five are at least marginally competent in range science. Nine academic professionals of which three are permanent, one is an extension specialist. Four staff members (accountants and secretaries). Approval for two new hires. Kristina Hufford in Restoration Ecology (25% outreach) is in place. The other person will be a Rangeland Systems Ecologist which has not been advertised yet.

Oregon (Oregon State University)
Department name: Rangeland Ecology and Management
New Dean Sunny Ramaswamy (Entomology). Discussing merger between range department and animal science department. Potential new department name Animal Range Science. Five range faculty on campus in Corvallis. Two faculty in La Grande. Undergraduate 15 in Corvallis 65 in La Grande. Seven graduate students, low at the moment. Approved faculty position Arid Lands Plant Community position will be advertised when the hiring freeze is lifted.
Research themes: Animal behavior related to wolf reintroduction, Riparian livestock use GIS/GPS, Weed ecology and management, DNA process to study livestock diet.

New Mexico (New Mexico State University)
Department of Animal and Range Sciences.

NMSU's range program currently has 46 undergraduate students majoring in Range Science, and 11 graduate students. The Range Science program is scheduled for the SRM re-accreditation review in November 2009. There are six teaching faculty in Range Science (Laurie Abbott, Kelly Allred, Derek Bailey, Andres Cibils, Sam Fernald, and Jerry Holechek). Kirk McDaniel retired in Spring 2009. Research priorities focus on: livestock-vegetation interactions, livestock distribution, livestock grazing systems, plant taxonomy, invasive species ecology and management, rangeland restoration, and watershed management. Current research projects include collaborations with other departments at NMSU, USDA Jornada Experimental Range, University of Arizona, Colorado State University, and international collaborative research in Jordan.

Idaho (University of Idaho)
Department: Rangeland Ecology and Management
Recent hires are Kelly Crane in extension and Beth Newingham in restoration ecology. The range department does not fulfill the University of Idaho criteria for department size and size of graduate program. Most likely the range department will be merged with the Forest Resources Department; however, the range curriculum and accredited program will remain as a subunit within this new department. Research topics: Rangeland and fire ecology, rangeland and livestock management, grazing management, animal behavior, and weed management, restoration ecology, ecophysiology, landscape ecology and GIS, and remote sensing.

Colorado (Colorado State University)
Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Resources
21 undergraduates, 40 graduate students. Constant change in department heads and deans. Merger with Human Dimensions is being discussed with maintenance of degree programs. Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory is trying to become a new department. Research: Range Ecology faculty, and other faculty and research scientists at CSU engage in a diverse range of rangeland-related research including: invasive species, wetland ecology, restoration ecology (including mine and oil and gas reclamation), state and transition models, collaborative management of rangelands, global change impacts and adaptations on rangelands, among other themes.

Accomplishments

1. A symposium on the applications of state-and-transition models at the SRM 2010 is approved, speakers are invited, and the meeting is being organized.<br /> <br /> 2. Symposium abstracts have been submitted to SRM.<br /> <br /> 3. We have secured support for publishing the proceedings from the SRM symposium from Montana State University Extension.<br /> <br /> 4. A synthesis paper based on the symposium will be submitted to REM. We discussed how to cover the page charges if the paper is accepted, this will be determined later.

Publications

Impact Statements

1. " Individual participants in WERA-40, and the group as a whole, continue to contribute to the development of sound science-based approaches to the development and application of state and transition models for rangeland assessment, monitoring and adaptive management.
2. " Through our annual meeting and field tour, symposium and project symposium synthesis paper, this committee facilitates constructive dialogue about STMs and related tools among rangeland scientists and managers, which advances the science, art and practice of sustainable rangeland management.

Back to top

Report Information

Participants

Abbott, Laurie (labbott@nmsu.edu) New Mexico State University
Bunting Steve (sbunting@uidaho.edu) University of Idaho
Courtney Patricia (Patricia_Courtney@blm.gov) Bureau of Land Management, Twin Falls Idaho
Fehmi Jeff (jfehmi@email.arizona.edu) Arizona State University
Hess Bret (brethess@uwyo.edu) WERA040 administrator  University of Wyoming
Launchbaugh Karen (klaunchb@uidaho.edu) University of Idaho
Lepak Dominika (Dominika_Lepak@blm.gov), Bureau of Land Management, Boise, Idaho
Limb Ryan (ryan.limb@okstate.edu) Oklahoma State University  moving to and representing Oregon State University
Pierson Fred (fred.pierson@ars.usda.gov) ARS Boise, Idaho
Pyke David (pyke@usgs.gov ) Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Ramsey Douglas (doug.ramsey@usu.edu) Secretary- University of Utah
Sedivec Kevin (Kevin.Sedivec@ndsu.edu) North Dakota State University
Smith Michael (pearl@uwyo.edu) University of Wyoming
Strand Eva (evas@uidaho.edu) Chair - University of Idaho
Stringham Tamzen (tstringham@cabnr.unr.edu) University of Nevada Reno

Brief Summary of Minutes

The 2010 WERA-40 business meeting was held in Boise, Idaho at the Northwest Watershed Research Center on October 15th. The meeting was preceded by a field trip tour of the Murphy Wildfire Complex on the 14th that burned 600,000 acres of sagebrush steppe in July of 2007. The discussion at the various stops along the tour was framed around state and transition models STMs. The STM model used in the field trip is attached as an appendix in the meeting minutes.
During the business meeting on the 15th, Doug Ramsey from Utah State University was elected as secretary and the venue for the 2011 meeting was set for Salt Lake City, Utah.

Old business Eva Strand provided a report on past years activities including the WERA 40 objectives:
1. Provide a discussion platform for university and Federal scientists working on ecological thresholds, biodiversity and formative processes in arid ecosystems
2. Review draft reports and technical bulletins for regional applicability and then organize and present at least one national level symposium to introduce new material on ecological site descriptors and ecological thresholds to natural resource managers and the general public
3. Publish symposium proceedings; target audiences will be Western States Cooperative Extension Agents and undergraduate educators teaching in Natural Resource, Rangeland and Wildlife Programs.
4. Meet with other Western Region Committees, e.g. WERA55 Range Resource Economics and Policy, WDC001 Rangelands West, to integrate the updated descriptors into policy recommendations and electronic information bases.

Objective 1: This objective has been met during annual WERA 40 meetings 2006-2010

Objective 2: A symposium was organized at the SRM National Meeting in Denver 2010 where nine scientists (some of the WERA 40 members) presented scientific papers relating to state-and-transition models.

Objective 3: The symposium proceedings are not yet published. Three of the nine participating scientists have submitted proceedings, two will submit by January 1, 2011, and the remaining scientists will be contacted and encouraged to submit their contributions by January 1, 2011. We plan to publish the proceedings online at the Montana State Extension and possibly also in the form of SRM Monographs. A one year extension will allow us to meet this objective.

Objective 4: We have not yet met with WERA55 or other committee. WERA55 is no longer active and an alternative activity will be conducted. We propose to invite speakers to WERA40 2011 with expertise and vision for how STMs may be incorporated in agency regulatory policy. Speakers from NRCS, Federal Agencies, or LANDFIRE were proposed. A one year extension will allow us to meet this objective.

New Business:

The group discussed the possibility of initiating a multistate project that involves range education. The number of universities offering education in rangeland ecology and management are decreasing and several range departments have been merged with other departments with a risk of loss of range curricula across the nation. The WERA 40 group sees an opportunity to join forces between existing range curricula where multiple schools provide education to students at other institutions. Students would get credit at their home institution, but could take the on-line class from another institution at instate tuition rates.
The group discussed the STMs provided by NRCS for the area visited in the field tour. It was pointed out that there is a difference between the historic reference state and the current reference state. The historic reference state does not contain ANY invasive species while most current reference states have at least traces of invasives such as cheetgrass. Questions that remain unresolved are: How do we include trace amounts of invasive species such as Bromus tectorum? What other characteristics make the community vulnerable to trace amounts of invasives? How do we measure resilience? In researching STMs it was pointed out that after a disturbance, we need to leave no-treatment areas for reference (no seeding for example) to learn about the plant community response in the absence of management activity. STM research needs to address the probability of a transition and what triggers the higher risk. Challenges remain around taking the step from conceptual STMs to STMs that are applicable in a research context.
The group discussed training on STMs online: What they are, examples from across the west, check with SRM workshop leaders, Landscape Toolbox webinars, training for different audiences, workshop opportunities for graduate students. Training videos on STMs are available from the Jornada experimental range. The group agreed that there is a need for development of assessments for determining what state a site is currently in.
The group will work on publishing the proceedings from the Denver 2010 SRM meeting in the SRM Monographs or online at Montana State Extension. See action items below for the process.

Action items:
Laurie Abbott and Kevin Sedivec will submit their symposium papers presented at SRM WERA40 session in Denver 2010 to Eva Strand and Clayton Marlow by January 1, 2011.

Eva Strand and Clayton Marlow will encourage the remaining speakers (Sam Fuhlendorf, Pat Shaver, and Mel George) at the WERA40 session in Denver 2010 to submit their proceeding papers.

After all Denver proceedings are collected, Kevin Sedivec will review them and determine the potential for creating a synthesis paper based on the content.
Eva Strand will look into alternative publication avenues such as the SRM Mongraphs.

Eva Strand will work with Bret Hess to apply for a one-year extension for the current WERA 40 group. The application for an extension must be submitted by January 15, 2011.

A writing group was formed (Mike Smith, Eva Strand, Laurie Abbott) to charter the future for the next 5 years of WERA040 (2012-2017). One suggested topic for the future is Education and training about STMs across different audiences. The writing group will present their suggestions at the 2011 WERA 40 meeting. The draft for renewal needs to be completed at the 2011 meeting and submitted to WERA 40 administrator Bret Hess by January 15, 2012

Invite speakers to WERA40 2011 with expertise and vision for how STMs may be incorporated in agency regulatory policy and how inappropriate use of STMs can be avoided. Speakers from NRCS, Federal Agencies, and/or LANDFIRE were proposed.

Accomplishments

1. A symposium on the applications of state-and-transition models was held at the SRM 2010 in Denver.<br /> <br /> 2. Three WERA 40 members have completed their proceeding papers and additional proceedings papers are in the works. <br /> <br /> 3. We have secured support for publishing the proceedings from the SRM symposium from Montana State University Extension. <br /> <br /> 4. We have the possibility of publishing the proceedings papers at the SRM Monographs.<br />

Publications

Impact Statements

1. Individual participants in WERA-40, and the group as a whole, continue to provide a platform for university and Federal scientists working on ecological thresholds, biodiversity and formative processes in arid ecosystems. Through our annual meeting and field tour, symposium and project symposium synthesis paper, this committee facilitates introduction of new material on ecological site descriptors and ecological thresholds to natural resource managers and the general public.

Back to top