Where's the beef? Predicting the effects of climate change on cattle production in western U.S. rangelands

Sue Miller; Matt C. Reeves; Karen Bagne; John Tanaka

Treesearch

Where's the beef? Predicting the effects of climate change on cattle production in western U.S. rangelands

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Sue Miller, Matt C. Reeves, Karen Bagne, John Tanaka

Year:

2017

Type:

Science Bulletins and Newsletters

Station:

Rocky Mountain Research Station

Source:

Science You Can Use Bulletin, Issue 27. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 11 p.

Download (PDF 3.53 MB)

Download (PDF 3.53 MB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/55339.pdf

Abstract

Cattle production capacity on western rangelands is potentially vulnerable to climate change through impacts on the amount of forage, changes in vegetation type, heat stress, and year-to-year forage variability. The researchers in this study projected climate change effects to rangelands through 2100 and compared them to a present-day baseline to estimate vulnerability of cattle operations.

Keywords

Science You Can Use, SYCU, cattle production, western rangelands, climate change, forage quantity, vegetation, heat-stress, viability

Citation

Miller, Sue; Reeves, Matt; Bagne, Karen; Tanaka, John. 2017. Where's the beef? Predicting the effects of climate change on cattle production in western U.S. rangelands. Science You Can Use Bulletin, Issue 27. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 11 p.