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Research Project: Uncertainty of Future Water Availability Due to Climate Change and Impacts on the Long Term Sustainability and Resilience of Agricultural Lands in the Southern Great Plains

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Title: Management opportunities and research priorities for great plains grasslands

Author
item FINCH, DEBORAH - Us Forest Service (FS)
item BALDWIN, CAROLYN - Kansas State University
item Brown, David
item DRISCOLL, KATELYN - Us Forest Service (FS)
item FLEISHMAN, ERICA - Colorado State University
item FORD, PAULETTE - Us Forest Service (FS)
item HANBERRY, BRICE - Us Forest Service (FS)
item SYMSTAD, AMY - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item VAN PELT, BILL - Western Association Of Fish And Wildlife Agencies
item ZABEL, RICHARD - Western Forestry And Conservation Association

Submitted to: Forest Service General Technical Reports
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/1/2019
Publication Date: 8/1/2019
Citation: Finch, D., Baldwin, C., Brown, D.P., Driscoll, K., Fleishman, E., Ford, P., Hanberry, B., Symstad, A., Van Pelt, B., Zabel, R. 2019. Management opportunities and research priorities for great plains grasslands. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-398. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 57p.

Interpretive Summary: Grassland ecosystems are a critical element of the landscape of the U.S. Great Plains. These systems are vulnerable to a wide range of risks, such as climate change, invasive species, and changing land use. The 2018 Great Plains Grassland Summit was convened to better characterize that suite of risks, and to identify management strategies and opportunities to mitigate against their potential negative impacts. The Summit focused its recommendations in seven critical areas: working lands, native plants and pollinators, native wildlife and biological diversity, invasive species, wildland and prescribed fire, energy development, and weather, water, and climate stressors. The recommendations presented here serve as a framework for managers and organizations to consider and employ strategies that preserve and protect Great Plains grassland systems.

Technical Abstract: The Great Plains Grassland Summit: Challenges and Opportunities from North to South was held April 10-11, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. The geographical focus for the summit was the entire Great Plains. The summit was designed to provide syntheses of information about key grassland topics of interest in the Great Plains; networking and learning channels for managers, researchers and stakeholders; and working sessions for sharing input and ideas about challenges and future research and management opportunities. The summit was convened to better understand Great Plains stressors and resource demands and how to manage them, and to discuss methods for improved collaboration among natural resource managers, scientists, and stakeholders. Over 200 stakeholders, who collectively were affiliated with all of the Great Plains states, attended the summit. Attendees included university researchers, government scientists, and individuals affiliated with federal and state agencies, tribes, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Plenary speakers provided syntheses of current knowledge on key topics to help stage working sessions on working lands, native plants and pollinators, native wildlife and biological diversity, invasive species, wildland and prescribed fire, energy development, and weather, water, and climate. The summit steering committee designed one suite of questions that were asked of participants in each working session. This report is a digest of the input from those who attended the seven working sessions and responded to the structured questions.