Track 2-02: Assessment of Grassland Condition, Stability and Sustainability

Description

Over generalized narratives about how desertified ecosystems will respond to restoration actions may result in wasted resources, missed opportunities, or accelerated degradation. Evidence-based collaborative adaptive management (CAM) could solve this problem by providing site-specific information that is trusted by users and enables learning opportunities. Although calls for CAM are increasing, many recommendations remain abstract and difficult to operationalize in specific projects. We review some general challenges for managing desertification in rangelands and draw upon recommendations in the recent literature to develop a 6-step method of CAM to address desertification. The method draws upon our ongoing experiences and makes novel connections between CAM concepts and technologies including ecological sites, state-and-transition models, ecological state mapping, and web-based knowledge systems. The development of a broadly-applicable and flexible methodology for CAM could increase the frequency and success of projects and provide sorely needed knowledge to guide locally-tailored responses to desertification.

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Toward a Method of Collaborative, Evidence-Based Response to Desertification

Over generalized narratives about how desertified ecosystems will respond to restoration actions may result in wasted resources, missed opportunities, or accelerated degradation. Evidence-based collaborative adaptive management (CAM) could solve this problem by providing site-specific information that is trusted by users and enables learning opportunities. Although calls for CAM are increasing, many recommendations remain abstract and difficult to operationalize in specific projects. We review some general challenges for managing desertification in rangelands and draw upon recommendations in the recent literature to develop a 6-step method of CAM to address desertification. The method draws upon our ongoing experiences and makes novel connections between CAM concepts and technologies including ecological sites, state-and-transition models, ecological state mapping, and web-based knowledge systems. The development of a broadly-applicable and flexible methodology for CAM could increase the frequency and success of projects and provide sorely needed knowledge to guide locally-tailored responses to desertification.