Location: Rangeland Resources & Systems Research
Project Number: 3012-21500-001-015-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jul 1, 2022
End Date: Jun 30, 2026
Objective:
Objective 1 - Evaluate the effects of temporal and spatial variability of livestock grazer and ecosystem interactions on forage / livestock production using the newly improved APEX (Agricultural Policy / Environmental eXtender) model that has the capability of simulating multiple paddocks simultaneously.
Approach:
The Cooperator and ARS will collaborate in using the APEX model for evaluating the effects of temporal (e.g., environmental) and spatial (e.g., soils and plant communities) variability of livestock grazer and ecosystem interactions on forage and livestock production. These efforts will use: 1) long-term data collected at the Central Plains Experimental Range, a shortgrass prairie rangeland ecosystem, from different grazing treatments over the past 80 years, 2) long-term data collected at the High Plains Grasslands Research Station, a northern mixed-grass prairie rangeland ecosystem, from different grazing treatments over the past 40 years, and 3) the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network common experiment that was initiated in 2013 comparing livestock and ecosystem responses under TRM (Traditional Rangeland Management) and CARM (Collaborative Adaptive Rangeland Management) grazing management across 20, 130 ha pastures (2,600 ha). Considerable variability exists spatially (soil and vegetation types) across the 2,600 ha, and substantial temporal variability (environmental, mostly precipitation and associated forage / livestock production) across the 40-80 years in the two different rangeland ecosystems provides opportunities to evaluate the effects of temporal and spatial variability of livestock grazer and ecosystem interactions on forage / livestock production.
