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Submitted to: Ecological Society of America Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 3/5/2018 Publication Date: 8/8/2018 Citation: Bestelmeyer, B.T. 2018. A Tale of Two Thresholds: Mistakes and Serendipity in a Desert Grassland [abstract]. 103rd Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, August 5-10, 2018, New Orleans, Louisiana. p. 244-6. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Semiarid grasslands have crossed thresholds to shrub-dominated states due to heavy grazing episodes and their after-effects. Extreme weather events and restoration actions can catalyze varying degrees of grass recovery. While we understand these thresholds in biophysical terms, we have scarcely explored their ultimate societal causes. I will reconstruct thought processes underpinning historical desertification events on the Jornada Experimental Range, including some recent first-hand experiences. I also describe how such “mental models” underpin restoration success. Given the large management extents and heterogeneity inherent to drylands, I argue that appropriate mental models are the most important tools we have to manage thresholds. |
