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Abstract
Rangelands are areas where the natural vegetation is comprised principally of grasses, forbs, grasslike plants, and shrubs that are suitable for browsing or grazing, but the presence of herbivory is not a prerequisite for rangeland classification. In this chapter, we evaluate the nature of rangeland resources across the conterminous United States and provide projections of future rangeland resources. One of the main changes since the 2010 Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment has been the dramatic increase in computational power and remotely sensed data describing the biophysical properties of the Earth’s surface, allowing us to characterize trends in rangeland vegetation not previously possible (Reeves et al. 2014b). Increased computational capacity also offers an improved ability to evaluate the role and effect of climate change on the potential future of rangelands. We begin this chapter by evaluating recent trends in rangeland extent, health, vegetation ground cover, aboveground net primary productivity (NPP), and livestock numbers. We then examine the potential impacts of climate change on U.S. rangelands by using the RPA scenarios and climate models to project future changes in rangeland phenology, vegetation productivity, and land use.
Parent Publication
Citation
Reeves, Matt; Krebs, Michael; McCord, Sarah E.; Fitzpatrick, Matt; Claassen, Roger; Kachergis, Emily; Metz, Loretta J.; Hanberry, Brice B. 2023. Rangeland Resources. In: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 2023. Future of America’s Forest and Rangelands: Forest Service 2020 Resources Planning Act Assessment. Gen. Tech. Rep. WO-102. Washington, DC: 8-1 - 8-33. Chapter 8. https://doi.org/10.2737/WO-GTR-102-Chap8
