Rancher Adaptive Response: Understanding How Rancher’s Adaptively Manage for Drought

Authors: DONALDSON, EMILY - University Of Wyoming; KNAPP, CORRINE - University Of Wyoming; Wilmer, Hailey; Derner, Justin

Submitted to: Rangeland Ecology and Management
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/22/2024
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Ranching operations are vulnerable to drought impacts. In this social science study, we used mail surveys and focus groups study how Colorado ranchers deal with drought. We find that ranchers rely on flexible management and diverse income sources. They face of barriers like resource variability, ecological complexity, and other stressors beyond their control. Where the suite of drought strategies suggested by the academic literature and those traditional strategies employed by the community may both have limited power under future changing conditions locally relevant collaborative adaptive management research may offer a method to co-develop new knowledge and tools for future adaptation.

Technical Abstract: As ranchers in the western United States face more severe droughts and variability in forage production, ranching operations and associated rural communities face heightened vulnerability to drought impacts. Predicted increases in the severity and duration of droughts in this region suggest that understanding context-specific drought responses could allow for more effective drought response. We employed a mixed-methods approach (mail surveys and focus groups) to understand factors that influence individual ranchers’ observed adaptive response and use of decision-making indicators to respond to drought. We find that, like other rangeland systems, Colorado shortgrass steppe ranchers are motivated to maintain an economically viable operation through flexible management and diverse income sources in the face of barriers like resource variability, ecological complexity, and other stressors beyond their control. The most common adaptation strategy was maintaining conservative stocking rates; however, they also used on-site drought indicators such as decreased soil moisture, decreased summer precipitation, and high plant stress. Our research suggests that it is critical to understand context in order to assess the adaptive actions of ranching communities.