Finding common ground between a rock and a hard place: Collaborative research with ranching communities builds adaptive capacity for a changing climate

Ranchers in the semi-arid Northern Plains make spatiotemporal management decisions about livestock production and rangeland conservation. Adaptive decision-making by ranchers in these social-ecological systems is challenged by directional climate change, increasing variability and extreme events. Gaps between scientific evidence and managerial experiential knowledge, however, limit adaptive capacity. A novel participatory social-ecological research project is underway that builds trust between researchers and ranchers. It does so by engaging multiple knowledges to co-produce climate-smart adaptive management strategies. Findings reveal ranchers’ existing adaptation strategies, and document opportunities to improve adaptive capacity in the face of weather/climate variability and extreme events.