Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #294035
Title: State-and-transition models as guides for adaptive management: What are the needs?

Author
item Bestelmeyer, Brandon
item BROWN, JOEL - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA)
item DENSAMBUU, BULGAMAA - Swiss Agency For Development & Cooperation
item Havstad, Kris
item Herrick, Jeffrey - Jeff
item PEINETTI, H. RAUL - University Of La Pampa

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2013
Publication Date: 4/9/2013
Citation: Bestelmeyer, B.T., Brown, J.R., Densambuu, B., Havstad, K.M., Herrick, J.E., Peinetti, H. 2013. State-and-transition models as guides for adaptive management: What are the needs? In: Los Pastizales y el Hombre, producir y conservar, April 9-12, 2013. Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina. p. 27-33.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: State and transaction models (STMs) were conceived as a means to organize information about land potential and vegetation dynamics in rangelands to be used in their management. The basic idea is to describe the plant community states that can occur on a site and the causes of transitions between these states. STMs are not bound to any particular theory about how vegetation should change, so they are flexible and able to represent succession, event-driven change, and critical or abrupt transitions to alternative sites. The diagrammatic and narrative portions of STMs synthesize various sources of knowledge about an ecosystem, including scientific results, historical anecdotes, and local knowledge to resent a set of explanations and predictions for how ecosystems can respond to natural events and management actions.