The Canyonlands Research Center (CRC; https://canyonlandsresearchcenter.org/) was established in 2009 as a collaboration between The Nature Conservancy, federal and state natural resource management agencies, and the research community. As part of a broad research program we foster at the CRC, we are developing a rangeland and animal science research program geared to creating solutions for resource managers in a warming Colorado Plateau. The climate change and drought research conducted at the CRC, all point to new risks and extreme challenges for regional livestock producers and range managers. Given these forecasts, new ideas and novel approaches are needed to conserve or restore the range and maintain the economic fidelity of ranching regionally.
Results/Conclusions
In this talk, we review the challenges faced by ranchers in the region, the science we have conducted to better understand the challenges, and the new science the CRC is conducting. Climate change and land-use change and intensification both pose substantial risks to Colorado Plateau rangelands. Our drought experiments suggest even moderate drying poses substantial risks of rangeland species, especially desired forage species. We also find that heavy use by livestock, interacting with drought, can result in large amounts of wind erosion and dust emissions. Solutions to these challenges that we are investigating at the CRC include new breeds of livestock and novel restoration techniques. Criollo cattle are a heritage breed from Mexico that are known for thriving by ranging farther for forage, having a more varied diet, and traveling long distances for water. We have an experimental Criollo heard outfitted with GPS collars and are conducting comparative studies to see how Criollo behavior differs from the traditional red angus hybrids on the CRC. We are investigating novel restoration techniques to stabilize soils and establish desired vegetation in degraded areas, some of which show tremendous promise for restoring persistently degraded sites. Finally, we have worked over the last ten years to foster productive partnerships and working relationships with resource managers regionally. Some of the challenges we have faced in the past include a lack of clear understanding by the research community of the science needs of the resource managers, funding to address those needs, short tenures for some key agency positions, and non-range land use conflicts consuming agency resources. We have recently had success in bridging the management-research divide and are implementing new research following a co-production of knowledge model geared toward facilitating adaptive management across the Colorado Plateau.