Treesearch

To better understand forage production (above ground biomass) and precipitation patterns in the Central Coast region of California, the first in a growing network of primary production monitoring sites were established in 2001. The California Central Coast has a Mediterranean climate with cool, moist winters and hot, dry summers, and is dominated by annual grasslands and oak woodlands. By 2010, 12 sites were established across San Luis Obispo County, stratified by different rainfall zones, greater than 635 mm (coastal) to less than 200 mm (inland) for an average year. Forage production was...

Ecological site descriptions and associated state-and-transition models are useful tools for understanding the variable effects of management and environment on range resources. Models for woody riparian sites have yet to be fully developed. At Tejon Ranch, in the southern San Joaquin Valley of California, we are using ecological site theory to investigate the role of two managed ungulate populations, cattle and feral pigs, on riparian woodland communities. Responses in plant species composition, woody plant recruitment, and vegetation structure will be measured by comparing cattle and...

Rangelands are estimated to cover 30 to 50 percent of the world's land surface and have significant belowground carbon (C) storage potential. Given their geographical extent, many have suggested that even modest changes in C storage via management practices could alter the global C cycle, creating climate change mitigation opportunities. Our objective was to investigate soil organic carbon (SOC) stability across a managed annual grassland, savanna, and oak woodland landscape. We sampled A and AB horizons from 20 soil profiles to assess long-term SOC stabilization pathways using combined...

An ongoing study of the small wetlands in the northern Sierra Nevada foothill oak woodlands that provide habitat for the state-threatened California black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus) offers an example of the way that the social ecological systems (SES) framework can be used to analyze a natural resource problem. At the outset, it was hypothesized that the area's hydrology, West Nile Virus from wetland mosquitos, the population ecology of the bird, and the decisions of landowners would have important impacts on the wetlands and birds. A SES framework was applied to identify...

We apply an ecosystem accounting system to estimate the total social income accrued from private and public products in a group of agroforestry farms in Andalusia (Spain). We provide bio-physical and economic indicators for two contrasting farm types, a sub-group of 15 publicly owned coniferous forests and a sub-group of 24 privately owned dehesa farms. Total social income attained, in 2010, an average value of €140 per hectare in public forests and €352 per hectare in private dehesas. In public forests, social and environmental targets prevail over the demand for revenues from agroforestry...

California oak woodland creates a landscape of renowned beauty, providing the public with essential natural resource services and economic values through ranching. Ranchers however, come under intense pressure and scrutiny from the public to demonstrate stewardship of the land they manage. The solution often chosen to address these concerns is, simply, more regulations. Regulations impose a financial and philosophical burden on California ranchers; in fact, they threaten the very existence of ranching. This paper discusses the development and on-going implementation of the Ranching...

Engelmann oaks (Quercus engelmannii) are restricted to extreme southern California and northern Baja, California. Their entire range falls within a landscape increasingly prone to human induced wildfires. The influence of fire on seedlings and saplings has been well studied, but there is less information available on its effects on mature trees. Two monitoring programs tracked Q. engelmannii for 13 years in areas experiencing fires and adjacent unburned areas. At the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve, management fires were initiated in 1988. Management units have been subjected to...

Conventional accounting of agricultural income focuses on the commercial operating income from oak woodland ranches, omitting the value of amenities to the landowner and real capital gains, which includes land revaluation (appreciation). These accounting exercises also mix income earned through self-employed (landowner and household) labor with ranch operating income, making it difficult to estimate separately how capital investment and landowner labor time are remunerated. In this paper we estimate the total landowner income and profitability rates from six oak woodland case studies in...

The influence of enhanced nitrogen (N) deposition on key ecosystem services provided by oak woodlands was experimentally investigated. Fertilizer was applied for 2 years to paired plots in the oak understory and adjacent open grassland. Treatments simulated four N deposition levels and effects on forage productivity, biodiversity, and soil N supply were measured. At each treatment level, understory plots received twice the N fertilizer of paired open plots to simulate a deposition hotspot effect of the oak canopy. Soils in the open had lower inorganic N concentrations than the understory...

Biological knowledge about bird focal species may be used to inform planning, habitat management, and restoration efforts, with the assumption that the implementation of these species-based recommendations will maintain and enhance healthy functioning habitats and the ecosystems services they provide. Point Blue Conservation Science in collaboration with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) state office in California recently formed the Rangeland Watershed Initiative (RWI) to restore ecosystem function by working with ranchers on privately held hardwood rangelands in the...