Feral swine (Sus scrofa) inhabit 35 states in the United States with an estimated population of 6 million animals. The feral swine population is greatest in Texas with an estimated population of at least 2.5 million. Monitoring swine landscape use and activity patterns is the first step to understanding effects on plant communities and potential zoonotic disease spillover events with livestock. Feral swine population densities are greatest in forested regions, but as their range expands, they will continue to encounter novel ecosystems. The Rolling Plains ecoregion of Texas presents a unique landscape in which feral swine are found in midgrass prairies primarily used for livestock production. Two 405-ha survey areas were chosen from a ranch in north Texas to stratify game cameras across three vegetation types: bottomland, deep upland, and shallow upland. From June 2021 to May 2022, cameras monitored animal movement. Swine image captures were logged and tagged with date, time, and temperature. Vegetative surveys were also conducted to estimate biomass production and vegetation height around the camera locations. Total swine captures (n = 242) over the study period were analyzed through mixed model analysis with terms of season, time, and vegetation type with interaction models run. Swine captures were significantly greater at bottomland sites than deep upland sites in the fall, winter, and spring (P = 0.01), as well as during midmorning time blocks (8:00–11:59) (P = 0.03). Temperature was also a significant driver of swine activity (P < 0.01) with low camera captures occurring at the extremes (≤ 0.0°C and ≥ 30.0°C). Biomass production and vegetation structure were not good predictors of swine vegetation association. These results can better inform producers where and when feral swine may be present, increasing the efficiency of feral swine management.

Kentucky bluegrass, an invasive cool-season grass in the US northern Great Plains, embodies the Greek story of the Trojan horse in which an apparent gift initially seems to bestow benefits but ultimately becomes harmful and subversive.

Its competitive nature and early spring growth give it an advantage over native cool season grasses. This early and prolific growth provides forage for livestock but eventually leads to a decrease in other plant species and to negative impacts to multiple ecosystem services. Developing effective landscape-scale management techniques for invasives like Kentucky bluegrass depends on understanding the perceptions, coping capacity, and management abilities of private landowners. Through a mail survey conducted in North Dakota, this research provides insight into the cognitive processes that motivate agricultural landowners to manage Kentucky bluegrass and investigates psychological factors that constrain or enable the implementation of management behaviors. The results showed that less than half of the landowners surveyed had a management goal for Kentucky bluegrass, and among those with such goals, the perceived capacity to cope with the species was moderate to low. The majority of landowners who wanted to decrease the abundance of Kentucky bluegrass on their rangelands did not believe they could effectively do so. This highlights the need for the rangeland science and extension community to develop effective and feasible management techniques and conservation programs that integrate research findings to provide viable solutions. Participatory processes that include diverse interested and affected parties and rights holders can provide social learning environments conducive to the joint exploration of problems and refinement of actionable solutions. Through the focus on Kentucky bluegrass in the northern Great Plains, our research approach and recommendations also provide transferable insights for invasive species management and conservation in other social-ecological systems.

When grazed intensively, grasslands can result in biodiversity loss and increased greenhouse gas emissions. However, when grasslands are maintained using agroecological practices, they can create diverse habitats and act as carbon sinks. Carbon sequestration in soil is mediated by the soil microbial community, which is largely affected by influxes of nutrients and the soil arthropod community. One such arthropod, the tunneling dung beetle Onthophagus taurus (Schreber 1759) incorporates animal dung into the soil, influencing both the soil microbial community and nutrient cycling. While dung beetles do affect the soil microbial community, there is a dearth of studies that examine the effect of tunneling dung beetles on soil microbial communities that may be associated with nutrient cycling. This study looks at the effect of the tunneling dung beetle O. taurus on the fungal, bacterial, and archaeal community of grassland soil in an in situ experiment in California's Central Coast region, using eDNA metabarcoding of the 16S locus for bacteria and archaea and the ITS1 locus for fungi. We find that O. taurus has a clear effect on the soil microbial community and its presence increases the abundance of soil microbes affiliated with degrading plant materials and carbohydrate metabolism.

Rangelands across the world are facing rapid and unprecedented social and ecological change. In the US West, sustaining the ecological and economic integrity of rangelands across both public and private lands depends largely on ranchers who make adaptive decisions in the face of variability and uncertainty. In this study, we build on previous conceptualizations of adaptive decision making that situate individual-level decisions within complex rangeland social-ecological systems. We surveyed 450 (36% response rate) Montana ranchers to gain insight into how key factors influenced adaptive decision making, specifically in the context of ongoing drought and climate-related change affecting rangeland ecology and productivity. We predicted that ranchers' management goals, their use of information sources, and their use of monitoring would significantly influence the use of adaptive practices, with monitoring mediating the relationship between the explanatory and response variables. We tested these predictions using a path model analysis and found that management goals related to both stewardship and profit/production, the number of information sources used, and monitoring were all significantly and positively related to ranchers' use of adaptive management practices. Interestingly, we found that these factors were hierarchical with monitoring and the use of information was the strongest predictor while management goals were secondary. The significant, mediating effect of monitoring on the use of adaptive practices suggests that monitoring may be an important means for providing ranchers with useful and timely information about rangeland condition that is needed to adjust their actions, meet their management goals, and adapt to drought and climate-related change. We argue there is a need to better understand the efficacy of monitoring designs—of what, by whom, and how—for adaptive decision making, and we discuss other considerations related to the provision of useful drought and climate information for adaptive decision making based on our findings.

The Rio Grande wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia) is a popular game species throughout the southcentral United States. It has experienced recent population declines in some areas of its distribution, though the cause is not clear. To better understand Rio Grande wild turkey (hereafter, turkey) ecology and inform management, we attached Global Positioning System transmitters to 34 females in 2016 and 2017. We evaluated habitat selection at both the second-order (landscape) and third-order (home range) scale for the breeding season and second-order selection for the nonbreeding season. Our resource selection function (RSF) models evaluated vegetation, management, and anthropogenic development including oil and gas infrastructure and roads. We found that turkey space use was strongly associated with tall woody cover at both the landscape and home range scale during breeding season and at the landscape scale during non-breeding season. Additionally, turkey space use was negatively related to the density of oil/gas wells at both scales during the breeding season and at the landscape scale during the nonbreeding season. Turkeys also selected areas close to roads at the landscape scale but avoided high traffic roads within their home ranges during the breeding season. Turkey also chose areas that were >24 mo post fire and close to water sources during the breeding season at both scales. Although turkeys exhibited consistent habitat selection patterns throughout the year relative to trees and oil and gas, our results suggest that their habitat requirements in western Oklahoma are seasonally variable. Management for the Rio Grande subspecies of turkey should maintain tree cover that provides roosting and loafing cover, as well as consider the potential negative impacts of oil and gas infrastructure when locating future energy development.

Traditional range and wildlife extension programs offered to landowners and land managers provide information, knowledge, and tools for land stewardship. However, effectively educating today's landowners may require new methods. We investigated the effectiveness of the Peers and Pros 360° teaching method, which is a mediated peer-to-peer learning approach. The objective of this teaching method is to create an interactive learning exercise that builds from the group's base level of knowledge. We designed, conducted, and evaluated three workshops for landowners in the Edwards Plateau ecoregion of Texas about prescribed fire to investigate the effectiveness of the Peers and Pros 360° method. In each workshop, participants exchanged ideas within a framework (topic, themes, and statements) prepared by professionals. Our program consisted of one topic with eight themes, each with three associated statements. During the program, participants read and responded out loud to these statements. Landowners with more prescribed fire experience often led the discussions, while those who were not as familiar with the topic asked questions and learned from their peers. Following the discussion, experts contributed additional information based on a list of predetermined talking points. The workshop was favored by participants, with 93% of participants preferring the Peers and Pros 360° method over traditional teaching methods. The workshop was also effective; participants at all three workshops experienced an increase in knowledge and indicated high intent to adopt practices (mean of five practices intended to adopt). The Peers and Pros 360° teaching method can help outreach and extension professionals design and conduct relevant, engaging programs and can be modified and used for a variety of educational topics and groups.

Invasive species are generally managed across rangelands to achieve livestock productivity and biodiversity maintenance objectives. The invasive legume Lespedeza cuneata (Dum. Cours.) G. Don. is managed across much of the Great Plains with aerially applied herbicides that target broadleaf forbs and dormant season (late March–early April) fire. It is hypothesized that altering fire timing to the growing season or integrating late-season herbicide into fire management may lead to more successful reduction of L. cuneata without negatively affecting rangeland plant communities. However, most of the literature outlining the effects of L. cuneata and its management is limited to small scale (< 100 m²), highly controlled studies that are not transferrable to large working rangelands. We manipulated eight large (333–766 ha) pastures managed with fire and grazing (i.e., pyric herbivory) to assess whether growing and dormant season fires, herbicide application, or the interactive effect of fire timing and herbicide reduced L. cuneata without negatively affecting broad rangeland plant composition (i.e., functional group cover) from 2019 to 2021. Our study was performed at two scales relevant to rangeland management: the pasture and burn patch scales. None of our treatments (i.e., fire timing, herbicide application, or the interaction of fire timing and herbicide) had a significant effect on L. cuneata canopy cover at either the pasture or patch scale. Our treatments also did not affect forb or shrub cover at the pasture or patch scales. Grass and sedge cover was significantly increased post herbicide at the patch scale, but not at the pasture scale. Grass and sedge cover was unaffected by any other treatment at both scales considered in this study. Our results add to nearly two decades of research, conducted elsewhere, that pyric herbivory alone may be sufficient to manage L. cuneata and promote rangeland biodiversity in the tallgrass prairie.

Increased wildfire size and frequency, invasion of non-native annual grasses, extensive fire suppression, climate change, and widespread juniper expansion have led to dramatic changes in sagebrush ecosystems, which provide habitat for a suite of wildlife species, including mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). These landscape-level disturbances can cause habitat loss and degradation, which influence the quantity and quality of available forage and can negatively influence adult female mule deer survival. We used Program MARK to estimate survival rates using a known-fate model. Our dataset included 111 radio-collared female mule deer to estimate monthly survival rates and to investigate factors that may affect these rates, including movement behavior (migratory or resident) and habitat characteristics (wildfire and juniper canopy cover) in mule deer habitats supporting sagebrush potential vegetation types (PVTs). The dataset included 116 421 Global Positioning System (GPS) location points from 2015 to 2017 in the John Day Basin, Oregon, United States. Survival averaged 0.78 (95% confidence interval = 0.61–0.82) across the study period but was 0.69 (95% confidence interval = 0.59–0.77) in 2015. Our results indicated survival was positively influenced by the presence of small amounts of recent fire (< 15% of total winter range burned; 1–20 yr postfire) within an individual's winter range. Annual survival (0.78) was low compared with survival rates for adult female mule deer in other parts of their geographic range. These findings demonstrate how postfire vegetation response can have a positive effect on mule deer survival, regardless of their migration strategy. Our findings also indicate how climate change poses a growing threat to mule deer populations as prolonged periods of drought increase the spread of fatal diseases.

Biocrusts are sensitive to changes in livestock grazing intensity in arid rangelands and may be useful indicators of ecosystem functions, particularly soil properties like soil stability, which may suggest the potential for soil erosion. We compared biocrust community composition and surface soil stability in a big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) steppe rangeland in the northwestern Great Basin in several paired sites, with or without long-term cattle grazing exclusion, and similar soils (mostly sandy loams), climate, and vegetation composition. We found that livestock grazing was associated with both lower surface soil stability and cover of several biocrust morphogroups, especially lichens, compared with sites with long-term livestock exclusion. Surface soil stability did not modify the effects of grazing on most biocrust components via interactive effects. Livestock grazing effects on total biocrust cover were partially mediated by changes in surface soil stability. Though lichens were more sensitive to grazing disturbance, our results suggest that moss (mostly Tortula ruralis in this site) might be a more readily observable indicator of grazing-related soil stability change in this area due to their relatively higher abundance compared with lichens (moss: mean, 8.5% cover, maximum, 96.1%, lichens: mean, 1.0% cover, maximum, 14.1%). These results highlight the potential for biocrust components as sensitive indicators of change in soil-related ecosystem functions in sagebrush steppe rangelands. However, further research is needed to identify relevant indicator groups across the wide range of biocrust community composition associated with site environmental characteristics, variable grazing systems, other rangeland health metrics, and other disturbance types such as wildfire.

Ventenata (Ventenata dubia L.) is an exotic annual grass gaining attention for its environmental and economic impacts across the western United States. Since cattle reportedly avoid grazing it, there is speculation regarding why it is rejected, though little is known about its forage quality and digestibility. We examined the seasonal and annual forage dynamics of ventenata in a southeastern Oregon meadow system by analyzing the forage quality (crude protein, acid detergent fiber, lignin); silica content; in vitro digestibility (IVDMD); and macrominerals (phosphorous, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sulfur) of ventenata over the growing season (May, June, and July) for 2 yr. We did not find that ventenata is low in forage quality, macrominerals, or digestibility. Overall, the forage quality of ventenata, especially in early spring (May and June), appears to pose little issue nutritionally. In fact, the crude protein of ventenata stayed above the crude protein minimum requirement for maintenance in grazing cattle through June. However, we did find that silica content as acid insoluble ash content (AIA%) of ventenata at our sites increased throughout the growing season and ranged between 4.3% and 12.1%, nearly 4× the amount previously reported. We also found variability in digestibility and nutrient profile from year to year that can be related to annual precipitation. For example, digestibility decreased by June in the wetter year but did not decrease in the dryer year until into July. Our results have implications for the management of ventenata and are especially relevant for the consideration of targeted grazing as a control method. Forage quality and digestibility of ventenata are best in early spring but, due to the height of the annual grass during this time, there is only a brief window for a targeted grazing strategy because its quality and digestibility declines and silica content increases over the growing season.

On publicly managed lands of western North America, canopy removal is practiced as a habitat improvement for sage grouse (Centrocercus species), often with the goal of converting dominant vegetation cover from pinyon pine (Pinus edulis) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) to sagebrush (Artemisia spp.). However, it remains unclear whether habitat conversion practices impact other species of conservation concern, especially pollinators, which are sensitive to changes in vegetation cover. Here we test how bee-flower assemblages differ between pinyon-juniper and sagebrush habitats and whether removal of canopy by mastication affects bee-flower networks.

Three important findings emerged: 1) linkage density (a measure of diversity) of bee-flower interactions was 33% higher in sagebrush habitats; however, mastication treatments were associated with reduced network specialization and there was evidence of interannual variation in network indices; 2) the most-visited floral taxa in pinyon-juniper sites were woody plants (Amelanchier, Opuntia, Prunus) but, in sagebrush sites forbs (Heterotheca, Eriogonum) were more frequently visited; however, weedy taxa including Cirsium and Melilotus were highly utilized in both habitats; and 3) site physiography affected bee assemblages; incident radiation (heat load index, HLI) had larger effects than relative site position in conservation areas, with higher bee abundance and richness at cool sites with low canopy cover.

We conclude that conversion of sites from pinyon-juniper to sagebrush is not likely to negatively impact bee-flower interactions in comparison with nontreated sagebrush habitats. Several native forbs and woody species highly visited by bees can be targeted for site restoration efforts, but eradication of “weedy” taxa (Cirsium and Melilotus) may reduce habitat availability. Managers should also consider site physiography when prioritizing treatment landscapes, with an emphasis on prioritizing conservation in habitats with low HLI.

Sagebrush-steppe restoration has long been seen as a wicked problem—each case has multifaceted problems with no universal solutions—and thus managers have had to adopt adaptive management techniques to meet ever-changing landscape demands. In this study, we characterize the efficacy of an adaptive management plan in a severely degraded sagebrush-steppe winter range habitat for mule deer for 8 yr by monitoring the plant community. During this time, managers have actively managed juniper encroachment through felling and responded to a 2014 wildfire by applying herbicide and seeding for native and forage vegetation. We found that the adaptive management practices reduced annual invasive grasses by about half post fire and nearly doubled preferred herbaceous plants' cover and biomass. However, these successes were only recorded in plots that received repeated treatments, whereas in plots that only received a single treatment post fire, invasive annual grasses returned to prefire cover. Despite these successes in recovering desired herbaceous composition, shrub regeneration was nearly nonexistent during the study period despite repeated attempts to seed.