The rangelands of the American West and the natural and human communities they support are increasingly stressed by the effects of climate change and land-use change. Changes in the amount and timing of precipitation, increasing average temperatures, increased fire frequency and intensity, soils degradation and loss, and the introduction and establishment of exotic insects and plants are just some of the factors leading to systemic social-ecological change. To better collect and analyze empirical social-ecological systems data (generated by qualitative and quantitative protocols) in these landscapes, a Community-Based Observing Network (CBON) for Rangelands Monitoring is being established in collaboration with communities in Oregon and Idaho. CBONs are a collaborative data-collection methodology originating in partnerships between university researchers and indigenous communities in the Arctic. The MtnSEON and RCN: EyesNorth are NSF-funded projects supporting the implementation of CBONs in rangelands, and these programs have fostered new collaborations between ranchers, foresters, Native American tribal members and governments, university-based researchers, and state and federal land-management agencies. Community-based observers and researchers are collecting observations on linked social and environmental changes in Wallowa Co., OR to help understand drivers of change and adaptation by human and natural communities. Data is made available and analyzed by university collaborators.
Results/Conclusions
Preliminary results from organizational workshops and initial field observations in Idaho and Oregon will be presented. Workshops in 2017 and 2018 co-hosted by the Center for Resilient Communities, Wallowa Resources, and The Nature Conservancy established collaborations between ranchers, members of the Nez Perce and Colville Tribes, and the US Forest Service. Researchers from University of Idaho and Oregon State University are providing observing and information fusion platforms, architecture, access to modeled and remote-sensing data, and spatial analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. Researchers and community partners co-create observing and reporting protocols, and data and analyses are owned and controlled by the communities themselves. The CBON methodology is being implemented to facilitate rural and tribal community access to information that is generated and used by university and government researchers and to provide a way for underrepresented communities with local and place-based knowledge to be involved in the collection and analysis of scientific data.
Initial observing protocols and geospatial data are focused on measures and mapping of rangeland health including: presence of invasive annual grasses; predator-prey interactions; presence of endangered and first-food species; cultural resources; rangeland infrastructure; soil conditions; and water sources. Community-based observations are interoperable with remotely sensed and modeled data.